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Multicomponent education, therapy programs most beneficial to treat childhood obesity
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Multicomponent treatment programs that combine dietary and physical activity education with behavioral therapy were the most effective interventions for young children with overweight or obesity, according to a review published in Childhood Obesity.
“Although the subgroup ‘multicomponent treatment programs of moderate to high intensity’ contained only two studies, these treatment programs appeared to be most effective in treating overweight young children,” the researchers wrote.
Esther van Hoek, MD, of the department of pediatrics, Gelderse Vallei Hospital, Ede, The Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases to April 2012.
The investigators looked for articles detailing treatment effects on body weight for children (mean age range, 3 to < 8 years) with overweight or obesity. The studies reporting change in BMI z score with standard error (SE) were included in a meta-analysis, for which researchers used a random-effects model.
The researchers considered 27 of 11,250 articles identified in the review; 11 studies, comprising 20 treatment programs with 1,015 participants, were eligible for the meta-analysis.
With high heterogeneity demonstrated through pooled intervention effect, subgroup analysis was performed; program intensity and types of components used partially explained the heterogeneity.
The subgroup of two studies involving multicomponent treatment programs, which combined dietary and physical activity education and behavioral therapy, of moderate or high intensity demonstrated the greatest pooled change in BMI z score (–0.46; 95% CI; –0.53 to –0.39). No variation resulting from heterogeneity was seen across studies.
“Because of the low number of studies performed, more research is needed on treatment programs for overweight or obese young children, especially multicomponent treatment programs of moderate to high intensity,” the researchers wrote.
“Ideally, the studies should report content and theory of the treatment program, the effect on somatic and psychosocial parameters, the effect on knowledge and behavior, long-term effects, and, finally, how the treatment program works in a real-life setting.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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