Health Care : Current Reviews

Abstract

Tracking of Interventions on Overweight and obese School Children: a Systematic literature review (2000-2014)

Wan Putri Elena WD, Hamid Jan JM and Hafzan Y

Abstract

Childhood obesity predisposes to adult obesity and increases the risk of many chronic diseases including type II diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease as well as some types of cancer. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of diverse approaches used in dietary and physical activity based interventions in dealing with obesity among children. PUBMED, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar digital databases were searched (January 2000 to December 2014) for longitudinal and randomized controlled trials with minimum duration of 6 weeks reporting weight changes as primary outcomes. Overall, 18 out of 27 studies are considered as “effective” based on a statistically significant reduction in body mass index (BMI) or skin-folds for the intervention group (IG). Growing evidence showed that school-based interventions which incorporate physical activity, parent’s involvement and using more interactive and enjoyable intervention as a complement to nutrition education may help prevent children becoming overweight in the long term. This review provided an update of the evidence from studies designed to evaluate the interventions to prevent childhood obesity. However, a more innovative and attention captivating intervention such as in the form of serious video games are needed to enhance the effectiveness of conventional interventions targeting at children.