ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood obesity in South Korea has increased owing to economic improvement and the prevailing Westernized dietary pattern. As the incidence of chronic diseases caused by obesity is also expected to increase, effective interventions to prevent childhood obesity are needed. Therefore, we conducted a Delphi study to determine the priorities of a potential intervention research on childhood obesity prevention and its adequacy and feasibility. METHODS: The two-round Delphi technique was used with a panel of 10 childhood obesity experts. The panelists were asked to rate “priority populations,”“methods of intervention,”“measurement of outcomes,”“future intervention settings,” and “duration of intervention” by using a structured questionnaire. Finally, a portfolio analysis was performed with the adequacy and feasibility indexes as the two axes. RESULTS: For priority populations, the panel favored “elementary,”“preschool,” and “middle and high school” students in this order. Regarding intervention settings, the panelists assigned high adequacy and feasibility to “childcare centers” and “home” for preschool children, “school” and “home” for elementary school children, and “school” for adolescents in middle and high school. As the age of the target population increased, the panelists scored increasing numbers of anthropometric, clinical, and intermediate outcomes as highly adequate and feasible for assessing the effectiveness of the intervention. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the Delphi survey, the highest-priority population for the research on childhood obesity prevention was that of elementary school students. Various settings, methods, outcome measures, and durations for the different age groups were also suggested.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Chronic Disease , Delphi Technique , Health Services Needs and Demand , Incidence , Korea , Obesity , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Pediatric Obesity , PrevalenceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pediatric obesity is an important global issue in public health. However, previous efforts for childhood obesity prevention have sporadically been implemented in Korea, neither evidence-based nor with proper evaluation. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of an effective intervention for prevention of pediatric obesity by reviewing previous systematic reviews and Meta-analyses. METHODS: PubMed was searched for articles published frombetween January 2005 to November 2015. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) articles published in English; (2) child and/or adolescents (between 2 and 18 years of age) as subjects; and (3) systematic reviews or meta-analyses concerning the preventive intervention of pediatric/adolescent obesity. Each study was evaluated via the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews for quality assessment. We conducted a quantitative analysis to evaluate the implications, strengths, and limitations of each study. RESULTS: Our final analysis included 35 articles, of which 15 were systematic reviews and 20 were meta-analyses. Among these, 24 studies (69%) advocated the efficacy of preventive intervention for pediatric obesity. Multidimensional approach including diet, exercise, and environmental factors conducted in schools with a parent and community involvement wasis more effective at preventing obesity. The efficacy of intervention varied depending on the age, sex, region, and socioeconomic characteristics of participantssubjects. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive intervention of pediatric obesity demonstrated smallminor improvements in body mass index and had positive effects on behavioral and clinical variables, which are associated with obesity. For the efficient prevention of pediatric obesity, it is necessary to consider efforts for developing various intervention programs, with active as well as the participation of school, family, and social community groups.