Publication:

Interventions on childhood obesity: a systematic review

Childhood obesity is a significant medical issue that affects children and adolescents, representing a growing global health concern. Despite its well-documented contribution to cardiovascular disease, non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes, and other chronic noncommunicable diseases, it was previously overlooked by individuals. However, in recent years, researchers have conducted various interventional studies to address this pressing health issue. This systematic review evaluates interventional studies conducted between 2000 and 2024 that focus on reducing childhood obesity. Relevant studies were collected from multiple sources that focus on obesity reduction in children. After applying pre-determined selection criteria, only 44 out of 120 studies were chosen and analyzed in detail. The extracted data from eligible research studies included key general characteristics such as the author’s name, year of research studied, year of publication, method of sampling and data collected, and study design. Additionally, the study population characteristics such as participant age, sex, sample size, and follow-up details were recorded. The type of intervention and its duration, the measures used to assess childhood weight, and the main findings were also extracted. The extracted data were summarized and presented in the form of table. Based on the findings, it was concluded that among various intervention strategies for managing childhood obesity, combining diet therapy with motivational counseling on diet and exercise produced the best results. It is recommended that a multidisciplinary school-based approach, involving family participation, may be the most feasible and effective strategy, ultimately leading to better outcomes in childhood obesity management.