Targeting weight loss in both overweight children and their parents can result in greater long-term weight loss for children than only targeting children’s weight, a recent study found.
"The results of this study demonstrate that effective treatment of overweight can be implemented in primary care, substituting [for] the traditional concept of referral to a specialty clinic the new concept of ‘co-management,’ requiring collaboration among health care providers with different sets of expertise," Dr. Teresa Quattrin of the University of Buffalo, The State University of New York, and her associates reported online (Pediatrics 2014 134:290-7).
Dr. Teresa Quattrin
The researchers randomly assigned 46 children to the family-based intervention and 50 children to the information control group, in which only the child’s weight control was addressed. The children all had a z score body mass index above the 85th percentile for their age and sex, and at least one of their parents had a BMI greater than 25 mg/m2.
Over a 1-year period, the parents of children in both groups participated in 13 educational group meetings on diet and physical activity. However, the parents of children in the family-based intervention additionally received brief individual sessions on the same nights as the group meetings. These focused on both the parents’ and the children’s weight and involved parents’ tracking of diet and physical activity for themselves and their children.
The initial 12 months of the study period, completed by 83% of the participants, were followed with another 12 months of follow-up involving three meetings, completed by nearly 73% of the participants.
Percent over BMI values in both groups initially decreased over the first 6 months and then gradually increased through the end of the 2 years. However, the percent over BMI values showed a greater reduction in the intervention group during those first 6 months (P less than .001) and remained lower than in the control group (P = .001), as well as lower than baseline at 24 months. Parents also experienced a greater decrease in BMI in the intervention group than in the control group.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Epstein has consulted for Kurbo, an online pediatric weight support company in which he also holds equity. No other authors reported disclosures.