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Published in: Archives of Public Health 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Systematic review

School based interventions versus family based interventions in the treatment of childhood obesity- a systematic review

Author: Saravana Kumar Kothandan

Published in: Archives of Public Health | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

The prevalence of childhood obesity, which has seen a rapid increase over the last decade, is now considered a major public health problem. Current treatment options are based on the two important frameworks of school- and family-based interventions; however, most research has yet to compare the two frameworks in the treatment of childhood obesity.
The objective of this review is to compare the effectiveness of school-based intervention with family-based intervention in the treatment of childhood obesity.

Methods

Databases such as Medline, Pub med, CINAHL, and Science Direct were used to execute the search for primary research papers according to inclusion criteria. The review included a randomised controlled trial and quasi-randomised controlled trials based on family- and school-based intervention frameworks on the treatment of childhood obesity.

Results

The review identified 1231 articles of which 13 met the criteria. Out of the thirteen studies, eight were family-based interventions (n = 8) and five were school-based interventions (n = 5) with total participants (n = 2067). The participants were aged between 6 and 17 with the study duration ranging between one month and three years. Family-based interventions demonstrated effectiveness for children under the age of twelve and school-based intervention was most effective for those aged between 12 and 17 with differences for both long-term and short-term results.

Conclusions

The evidence shows that family- and school-based interventions have a considerable effect on treating childhood obesity. However, the effectiveness of the interventional frameworks depends on factors such as age, short- or long-term outcome, and methodological quality of the trials. Further research studies are required to determine the effectiveness of family- and school-based interventions using primary outcomes such as weight, BMI, percentage overweight and waist circumference in addition to the aforementioned factors.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
School based interventions versus family based interventions in the treatment of childhood obesity- a systematic review
Author
Saravana Kumar Kothandan
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Archives of Public Health / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 2049-3258
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/2049-3258-72-3

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