Weighing the costs of childhood obesity
needs to be addressed in order to stem the rising rates of the
disease in children, according to a new report by the UK's National
Health Service and the University of York.
The cost effectiveness of initiatives to treat and prevent obesity needs to be addressed in order to stem the rising rates of the disease in children, according to a new report Effective Health Care.
Halting the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity inchildren is currently a key public health priority in most developed nations. However, Effective Health Care reports that there is a lack of good quality evidence on the effectiveness of interventions on which to base national strategies or to inform clinical practice.
The report is based on systematicreviews carried out by the Cochrane Heart Group, withadditional review work by staff at the UK's NHSCentre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York.
In the UK the prevalence of obesity among children has increased substantially over the last 20 years, finds the report. And not only has obesity been linked with a number of health problems (including hypertension and an increased risk of cardiovascular problems), but it can also have a significant impact on the psychological well-being of manychildren.
The report points to a number of government initiatives that show the key role that schools can play in improving the health of children. It said that there is some evidence that multi-faceted school-based programmes - promoting physical activity and changes to diet and targeting sedentary behaviour - may help reduce obesity in school children, particularly girls.
Family-based programmes involving parents, that increase physical activity, provide dietary education and try to reduce sedentary behaviour may also help children lose weight, according to the report, and behaviourmodification programmes where parents take the main responsibility and act as agents of change, could also help children lose weight.
However the authors stress that future research must be of good methodological quality, involve large numbers of participants in appropriate settings and needs to be of longer duration and intensity. They also highlight the need to study the cost effectiveness of obesity related prevention and treatment.
