Dietary-Behavioral-Physical Activity Intervention
OVERVIEW
The Dietary-Behavioral-Physical Activity Intervention is a brief three month treatment for childhood obesity. It addresses nutrition, exercise, and behavior, and aims to reduce weight, body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as increase fitness and have an impact on nutrition and exercise habits. An evaluation of the intervention found that it had a positive impact on BMI, percent body fat, weight, and physical activity through the one-year follow-up.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Obese children and adolescents
The Dietary-Behavioral-Physical Activity Intervention is a multi-component treatment for childhood obesity that is administered over the course of three months. Participants and their parents were invited to attend four evening lectures on childhood obesity, general nutrition, a therapeutic nutritional approach for childhood obesity, and exercise and childhood obesity. For the dietary component of the intervention participants attended six meetings with a dietitian, some with and some without parents, depending on the age of the participant. The first meeting was 45 to 60 minutes in length and covered the reasons for childhood obesity, nutrition, and cooking information, and also involved the dietitian trying to get the family to understand the motivation to lose weight and to be involved in the fight against obesity. The other five meetings were 30 to 45 minutes in length and were concerned mainly with nutrition education. Participants also received worksheets and flyers with information on nutritional issues and received a diet with 15 percent fewer calories than the required daily intake. The exercise component of the program involved twice-weekly one-hour training sessions, which were led by professional youth coaches. The participants were also told to engage in 30 to 45 minutes of additional physical activity each week and generally limit their sedentary activities.
EVALUATION OF PROGRAM
Evaluated population: Participants were 54 obese children and adolescents (6 to 16 years old) who did not have an organic cause for their obesity and were not taking any medications that might interfere with growth or weight control. The average age was 11 years old; 26 of the participants were male and 20 were female.
Approach: Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition. Those in the control condition received one nutrition consultation and were told to engage in physical activity three times a week. Participants were assessed on height, weight, BMI, percent body fat, caloric intake, screen time, endurance, physical activity, and cholesterol and triglyceride levels at baseline and immediately following the three-month intervention. All of these assessments, except for cholesterol and triglyceride levels, were made again at the one-year follow-up.
Results: Assessments after the intervention found differences between the intervention and control participants with intervention participants having lower BMI, weight, percent body fat, and cholesterol levels, and higher fitness and physical activity. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of caloric intake, screen time, or triglyceride levels.
Assessments at the one-year follow-up indicated that there were differences between the groups with the intervention group having lower BMI, weight, percent body fat, and higher fitness and physical activity. At the one-year follow-up, there were no differences in terms of caloric intake or screen time.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
References
Nemet, D., Barkan, S., Epstein, Y., Friedland, O., Kowen, G., & Eliakim, A. (2005). Short- and long-term beneficial effects of a combined dietary-behavioral-physical activity intervention for the treatment of childhood obesity. Pediatrics, 115, 443-449.
KEYWORDS: Children (3-11), Adolescents (12-17), Males and Females (Co-ed), Clinic/Provider-based, Parent or Family Component, Health Status/Conditions, Nutrition, Obesity
Program information last updated 11/29/10
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© Child Trends 2004 |
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