Following self-help treatment programs under the guidance of medical experts may help overweight children shed those extra pounds on their own, say researchers.
Kerri Boutelle, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues enrolled 50 overweight or obese children between the ages of 8 and 12 and their family members in a low-intensity, 5-month long treatment for childhood obesity, measuring the effects on a child's weight (measured as body mass index or BMI) immediately post-treatment and six months later.
Mantra to Prevent Childhood Obesity – Vigorous Physical Activity
Being physically very active is the mantra to prevent pediatric obesity rather than concentrating efforts at restricting energy consumption.
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The researchers also evaluated whether the intervention promoted improvements in eating behavior and physical activity among children and parents. The results of the guided, self-help intervention program showed a significant decrease in BMI immediately after completing the 5-month treatment, losses that were maintained six months later.
According to the UCSD researchers, such a program may be an improvement over current methods, especially because the program is designed to fit a busy family's schedule.
![Body Mass Index]( "Body Mass Index")
The BMI calculator helps you assess your weight indicating if it is normal or if you are underweight or overweight, based on your height.
"The guided self-help treatment includes offering structure along with a self-help program to help families stick to the program," said Boutelle. "Parents and their children are given a manual, and each week they read a chapter and try to apply the skills at home. Every other week they come in to our clinic at UC San Diego School of Medicine for 20 minutes and discuss how things were going with an interventionist. This is very different than traditional weight control programs where parents and kids come in every week for an hour-and-a-half-long group-based program."
"Importantly, the initial results of this study showed that that a self-help program, guided by professionals, may be as effective in helping kids to lose weight as a traditional, clinic-based weight loss program," Boutelle concluded.
The study was recently published in the journal Pediatrics.
Source: ANI
Body Mass Index
The BMI calculator helps you assess your weight indicating if it is normal or if you are underweight or overweight, based on your height.
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"The guided self-help treatment includes offering structure along with a self-help program to help families stick to the program," said Boutelle. "Parents and their children are given a manual, and each week they read a chapter and try to apply the skills at home. Every other week they come in to our clinic at UC San Diego School of Medicine for 20 minutes and discuss how things were going with an interventionist. This is very different than traditional weight control programs where parents and kids come in every week for an hour-and-a-half-long group-based program."
"Importantly, the initial results of this study showed that that a self-help program, guided by professionals, may be as effective in helping kids to lose weight as a traditional, clinic-based weight loss program," Boutelle concluded.
The study was recently published in the journal Pediatrics.
Source: ANI
Quiz on Obesity
"We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are". - Adelle Davis There are thousands out there battling 'the bulge'. With childhood obesity on the rise even children are not spared. If your weight issues are threatening to weigh you down learn more about obesity by taking part in this quiz.
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 Childhood Obesity Could be Cured by Guided Self-helpTo help children lose weight, it is known that family-based treatment that combines nutrition and exercise education, along with behavior modification, is a good approach. | Advertisement
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