- FRIDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) — Behavioral management weight
loss programs can help obese school-age children and teens lose weight or
prevent further weight gain, according to a new report.

Approximately 17 percent of American children and teens are obese,
defined as having a body mass index (BMI, a measure of weight in relation
to height) at or above the 95th percentile for their age and sex. Children
who are obese are at increased risk for asthma, type 2 diabetes, fatty
liver disease, sleep apnea, psychological harm, and other weight-related
problems.

In a new study released Sept. 29, researchers from the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ) evaluated methods for weight loss and the prevention of further
weight gain in children and teens.

The researchers found that the obese children who completed weight
management programs weighed between 3 pounds and 23 pounds less, on
average, that obese children who were not involved in such programs. This
weight difference was the greatest among the heavier children and those
who were enrolled in more intensive programs.

“Effective prevention is the best way to stem the childhood obesity
epidemic, but we also have to find effective and healthy ways of helping
our children and teens who already are obese get to a healthier weight,”
AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy said in an agency news release.

The medium- to high-intensity behavioral management programs
investigated in this study met for more than 25 hours, usually once or
twice a week, for six months to a year. The most effective programs
included techniques to improve diet and exercise habits. Some programs
focused on goal setting, problem solving, and relapse prevention.

“Obese children and their families may be discouraged about their
weight, but our review found there are programs out there that can help
kids to either gain weight more slowly as their grow or, where
appropriate, lose weight,” Dr. Evelyn Whitlock, associate director of the
AHRQ-supported Oregon Evidence-Based Practice Center at Kaiser
Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland, said in the news
release.

In one of the studies included in the report, 8- to 16-year-old obese
children who participated in a high-intensity behavioral management weight
loss program gained less than one pound on average, compared with their
obese counterparts who were not participating in the program and gained
almost 17 pounds.

The researchers also found that intensive, health care-based programs
were generally more effective than school-based programs. And,
prescription weight loss drugs and weight-reduction surgery were both
associated with weight loss in obese children and teens, but they were
also associated with adverse side effects, while there were no reported
harms from behavioral intervention alone.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases has more about childhood obesity.