Effectiveness of current interventions in obese New Zealand children and adolescents.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To determine the effectiveness of current interventions in New Zealand in obese children and adolescents accessing either a standard model of care (medical input alone or with the addition of dietitian and physical activity input), or one of the country's long-standing multi-disciplinary intervention programmes. METHODS: Data were recorded over approximately 2.1 years of intervention from 290 patients across four centres in New Zealand, who manage obese and overweight children and adolescents aged 3-16 years in paediatric clinics. RESULTS: There was a small but significant annual reduction in BMI SDS irrespective of the nature of intervention (-0.15 overall). There was no significant difference in BMI SDS between interventions. The extent of BMI SDS reduction decreased with increasing age at first outpatient attendance (p=0.0006). BMI SDS reduction was unaffected by ethnicity or gender. CONCLUSIONS: Mild reductions in BMI SDS are achievable in children being referred to and managed for obesity by a range of models. It is important that paediatricians are proactive in identifying and addressing obesity with families. Further research is required to evaluate multi-disciplinary intervention programmes, and how their effectiveness can be increased, given their recognised benefits in improving cardiovascular and metabolic profile, as well as BMI SDS.