A pragmatic evaluation of a family-based intervention for childhood overweight and obesity

Law C, Cole T, Cummins S, Fagg J, Morris S, Roberts H
Record ID 32015000852
English
Authors' objectives: The aims of this study were to describe the characteristics of children who take part in MEND, when implemented at scale and under service conditions; assess how the outcomes associated with participation in MEND vary with the characteristics of children (sex, socioeconomic circumstances and ethnicity), MEND centres (type of facility, funding source and programme group size) and areas where children live (in relation to area-level deprivation and the obesogenic environment); examine the cost of providing MEND, per participant, to the NHS and personal social services, including how this varies and how variation in cost is related to variation in outcome; evaluate the salience and acceptability of MEND to those who commission it, those who participate in full, those who participate but drop out and those who might benefit but do not take up the intervention; and investigate what types of costs, if any, are borne by families (and by which members) when participating in MEND, and in sustaining a healthy lifestyle afterwards.
Authors' recommendations: Further research should focus on the sustainability, costs (including emotional costs to families) and cost-effectiveness of behaviour change. However, weight management schemes are only one way that overweight and obese children can be encouraged to adopt healthier lifestyles. We situate this work within a social model of health with reference to inequalities, obesogenic environments, a lifecourse approach and frameworks of translational research.
Details
Project Status: Completed
Year Published: 2014
URL for published report: http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/phr02050/#/abstract
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Not Assigned
Country: England, United Kingdom
MeSH Terms
  • Child
  • Body Mass Index
  • Body Composition
  • Obesity
  • Parents
  • Family
  • Weight Loss
  • Family Therapy
  • Adolescent
  • Health Promotion
Contact
Organisation Name: NIHR Public Health Research programme
Contact Address: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK
Contact Name: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk
Contact Email: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk
Copyright: Queen's Printer and Controller of HMSO
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