ABSTRACT
Background: Medical treatment of obesity requires a multidisciplinary approach including dietary, exercise and behavioral interventions. Aim: To report the results of a multidisciplinary program for the treatment of obesity in children. Patients and Methods: Three hundred twenty four children (155 males), aged between 5 and 18 year, were treated with diet, exercise and behavioral modification, between 1999 and 2006. At baseline and at the end of follow up, weight, height, z score for body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and features of the metabolic syndrome were assessed. Results: z scores for IMC decreased by 0.28 points (95 percent confidence intervals: -0.31 to -0.25). Sixty percent of patients achieved a weight reduction of 5 percent of more of their initial weight. In a multiple linear regression model, weight loss was directly associated with the follow up time and inversely associated with the initial waist circumference. Patients had a reduction of 0.05 z score points of BMI per month (95 percent confidence intervals 0.07 to 0.025; p < 0.001), while adhering to the program. The overall compliance with the three months treatment period was 59 percent. Conclusions: In children and teenagers, a multidisciplinary management of obesity achieves a sustained weight loss, that ifs proportional to the lapse of adherence to the program.