Studies Investigate Childhood Obesity, Diabetes And Related Conditions - Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine

Factors identified early in childhood could predict obesity in the teen years and beyond, and researchers continue to assess methods to prevent and treat excess weight gain and its consequences in children and teens, according to several reports published in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.



The issue-a theme issue on childhood obesity and diabetes-is being published in conjunction with a JAMA theme issue on diabetes. The March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology and Archives of Neurology, along with the April issues of Archives of Dermatology and Archives of Surgery, also feature research on diabetes, obesity and their related co-morbidities.



Studies featured in this issue include the following:




School-Based Intervention Changes Some, But Not All, Behaviors and Measures of Obesity



An interdisciplinary program designed to increase awareness of obesity and change the behaviors of Dutch school children appears to have reduced the amount of sugary beverages consumed by boys and girls and also improved body composition in girls alone, but did not seem to affect other behaviors. Amika S. Singh, Ph.D., and colleagues at VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, assessed the effectiveness of the intervention among 1,108 adolescents (average age 12.7). The program included 11 lessons in biology, physical education and lifestyle changes over eight months.



Students at the 10 schools that participated in the program drank fewer sugar-sweetened beverages at the end of the intervention (287 milliliters per day less for boys and 249 milliliters per day less for girls) and 12 months later (233 milliliters per day less for boys and 271 milliliters per day less for girls) than did those in the eight schools that did not participate. In addition, at a 20-month follow-up, the intervention remained effective in preventing unfavorable increases in the sum of all skinfold measurements (taken at the triceps, biceps, below the shoulder and between the hip joint and ribcage) in girls. However, no changes were seen in consumption of snacks or in walking or biking to school.



"Hence, our results do not show consistently positive findings on all anthropometric and behavioral outcome measures. Our findings are important, especially when considering the need for evidence on the long-term effectiveness of interventions in the field of obesity prevention," the authors write. "Reducing intake of sugar-containing beverages should therefore be considered a good behavioral target for future interventions aimed at the prevention of overweight among adolescents."



Schools remain "an obvious and important channel for providing obesity-prevention programs, as the vast majority of youth spend a great deal of time each week throughout their development from childhood to young adulthood in schools," writes Leslie A. Lytle, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in an accompanying editorial. "However, as the extent of the published research in this field is substantial and the findings consistently mixed and modest, it may be time to re-evaluate where the research needs to move."



Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163[4]:309-317, 388-389.