Examination of a Treatment Program for Overweight Children, Adolescents, and Their Families

University of Kansas93 enrolled

Overview

The current study examined the effectiveness of a behaviorally-based group intervention for overweight children and their families. The target intervention was compared to an enhanced standard of care treatment. The impact of both treatment programs on numerous outcomes was explored.

The primary objective of the present investigation was to determine the effectiveness of an empirically supported intervention for pediatric overweight in two outpatient clinical settings. A number of previous randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of behaviorally-based group interventions for overweight children and their families. As called for by Kazdin and Weisz (1998) and Chambless and Hollon (1998) the proposed investigation was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of such a treatment in a clinical setting, and to examine the effects of the intervention on children's quality of life (QOL). Because the clinical impact of empirically supported interventions is mitigated by economic and consumer variables, a secondary aim of the proposed investigation was to examine (1) the cost-effectiveness of an outpatient group intervention for pediatric obesity, and (2) the consumer satisfaction with the proposed intervention. Finally, an additional exploratory aim was to examine predictors of adherence to treatment for the intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Obesity

Interventions

Positively FitBEHAVIORAL

12-week group intervention for children with obesity and their parents/caregivers

Brief Family Intervention (Primarily education)OTHER

3 hours of contact with registered dietician for education and nutritional counseling.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 7 YearsMax age: 17 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Child between ages 7 and 17 (inclusive) * Child BMI at or above the 85th percentile based on norms provided for age and gender * Child's parent/guardian provides informed consent for treatment of the child as well as consent for study participation * Child's parent/caregiver is willing to participate with the child in the program Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of serious mental illnesses or significant developmental delay that would reasonably predict altered ability to adhere to the treatment protocol * Current physical illness or hospitalization of the child that would interfere with group attendance or protocol adherence

Locations (2)

University of Kansas Medical Center

Kansas City, Kansas, United States

University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

BMI Percentile Change

Time frame: Treatment completion, 1 year follow up

Secondary Outcomes

Quality of Life - The PedsQL™ (version 4.0;Varni et al., 2001)

Time frame: treatment completion, one year follow up

Child Psychosocial Adjustment -- the Behavioral Assessment System for Children- Parent report form (BASC-PRF) and the BASC-Child Self Report (BASC-CSR; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2002)

Time frame: Treatment completion, one year follow up

Cost-effectiveness

Time frame: Treatment completion, one year follow up

Consumer Satisfaction

Time frame: Treatment completion

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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