The prevention and treatment of childhood obesity

NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination
Record ID 32002000926
English
Authors' objectives:

This Effective Health Care bulletin summarises the research evidence on the effectiveness of a range of interventions used in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.

Authors' recommendations: - Obesity is now considered to be a global epidemic. In the UK, the prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst children of all ages is increasing. - There is debate around the reasons for the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity, and possible explanations include an increase in sedentary lifestyles and changes in dietary patterns and eating habits. - Halting the rising prevalence of childhood obesity is a public health priority. However, there is a lack of good quality evidence on the effectiveness of interventions on which to base national strategies or inform clinical practice. - Currently there are a number of government initiatives specifically targeting schools and there is some evidence that school-based programmes that promote physical activity, the modification of dietary intake and the targeting of sedentary behaviours may help reduce obesity in children, particularly girls. - Family-based programmes that involve parents, increase physical activity, provide dietary education and target reductions in sedentary behaviour may help reduce childhood obesity. - Future research must be of good methodological quality, involve large numbers of participants, be carried out in appropriate settings and needs to be of longer duration and intensity.
Authors' methods: Systematic review
Details
Project Status: Completed
Year Published: 2002
URL for published report: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/EHC/ehc76.pdf
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Not Assigned
Country: England
MeSH Terms
  • Child
  • Health Education
  • Health Promotion
  • Obesity
Contact
Organisation Name: University of York
Contact Address: University of York, York, Y01 5DD, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 1904 321040, Fax: +44 1904 321041,
Contact Name: crd@york.ac.uk
Contact Email: crd@york.ac.uk
Copyright: <p>Centre for Reviews and Dissemination</p>
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.