Targeting Childhood Obesity Through Lifestyle Modification

Abstract

KEY POINTS Evidence regarding the efficacy of intervention programs targeting childhood obesity suggests that treatment should focus on dietary and physical activity changes, along with behavior modification and parental support. Different types of dietary interventions, aiming at negative energy balance and improvement of dietary habits, have been applied, such as calorie limit combined with an exchange food system, low energy balanced diets, or even ad libitum low-glycemic diets. The physical activity component includes an increase in structured or nonstructured activities and a decrease in sedentary activities. To support the child to implement and maintain the desired lifestyle changes, behavior modification techniques have been incorporated in the treatment programs, most common of which are self-monitoring, goal setting, stimulus control, and problem solving. Parental involvement is recommended to provide support to the child's effort, although several types of parental roles have been evaluated with variable success. Currently no consensus has been reached on the most effective intervention, and most studies report short-term results with limited generalizability. There is an urgent need for well-designed randomized trials to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for the management of children's overweight.