Findings from Israel, Australia and Austria in obesity provide new insights

Reports from Israel, Australia and Austria highlight recent research in obesity.

Study 1: Parent-only intervention appears to be the most beneficial for weight loss and healthy lifestyle choices among obese children.

According to a study from Israel, "There is a consensus that interventions to prevent and treat childhood obesity should involve the family; however, the extent of the child's involvement has received little attention. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the relative efficacy of treating childhood obesity via a family-based health-centered intervention, targeting parents alone v. parents and obese children together."

M. Golan and colleagues at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem explained, "Thirtytwo families with obese children of 6-11 years of age were randomized into groups, in which participants were provided for 6 months a comprehensive educational and behavioral program for a healthy lifestyle.

These groups differed in their main agent of change: parents-only v. the parents and the obese child. In both groups, parents were encouraged to foster authoritative parenting styles (parents are both firm and supportive; assume a leadership role in the environmental change with appropriate granting of child's autonomy)."

"Only the intervention aimed at parents-only resulted in a significant reduction in the percentage overweight at the end of the program (p=0.02) as well as at the 1-year follow-up meeting," determined investigators. "The differences between groups at both times were significant (p<0.05).

"A greater reduction in food stimuli in the home (p<0.05) was noted in the parentsonly group. In both groups, the parents' weight status did not change. Regression analysis shows that the level of attendance in sessions explained 28% of the variability in the children's weight status change, the treatment group explained another 10%, and the improvement in the obesogenic load explained 11% of the variability."

The researchers concluded, "These results suggest that omitting the obese child from active participation in the health-centered program may be beneficial for weight loss and for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle among obese children."

Golan and colleagues published their study in British Journal of Nutrition (Childhood obesity treatment: targeting parents exclusively v. parents and children. Br J Nutr, 2006;95(5):1008-1015).

For more information, contact M. Golan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, School Nutrition Science, IL-76100 Rehovot, Israel.

Study 2: Study finds high total energy intake, not low physical activity and low total energy expenditure, was the main determinant of high body weights in children.

According to a study from Australia, "Estimating changes in weight from changes in energy balance is important for predicting the effect of obesity prevention interventions. The objective was to develop and validate an equation for predicting the mean weight of a population of children in response to a change in total energy intake (TEI) or total energy expenditure (TEE)."