Therapy against overweight in children ineffective?

Therapies show little effect in overweight children

05/10/2012

Obesity in children and adolescents can be reduced in the short term with weight-loss measures such as nutritional therapies, weight loss and exercise programs, but in the long term the therapeutic approaches do not show the desired success. This is the result of a recent long-term study by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA).

While most anti-overweight therapies are promising in the beginning, long-term results are extremely limited. „Sustainable weight stabilization and improvements in health behavior“ According to the Federal Center for Health Education with the existing therapies apparently „difficult to implement.“ After one to two years, the initial successes of most adolescents have become relative again. Against this background, the growing proportion of overweight children is particularly critical. Because once overweight, it threatens to stay.

Little long-term success of the therapies in overweight children
The BZgA's long-term study published yesterday reveals considerable deficits in the treatment of overweight children. In the study, BZgA experts collected data from 1,916 overweight children and adolescents aged 8 to 16, who were either hospitalized for around one year or approximately six weeks in-patient treatment. A total of 48 institutions from all over Germany offering treatment measures for obesity were included in the study. According to the data, the weight loss measures achieved a significant success in about 56 percent of children and adolescents during the therapy period. But „One or two years after the end of the programs, only about 14 percent of the adolescents lost weight“, reports the BZgA. Also accompanying therapeutic goals such as more exercise in everyday life, a healthier diet, less time watching TV or PC and an improvement in the general quality of life are „in the long term only reached in ten to 18 percent of children and adolescents“ been.

Unstable supply situation with the therapy offers
In addition to the limited success of the weight-loss measures had also become clear in the investigation, „that the supply situation in the area of ​​overweight reduction is very unstable“, so the message of the BZgA. The BZgA experts observed a particularly high fluctuation of staff both in the small consulting practices as well as in large clinics and spa facilities. Occasionally, facilities were also closed during the investigation period. Here more consistency in the sense of the patients would be desirable.

Improvement of preventive measures required
In the opinion of the BZgA director, Prof. dr. Elisabeth Pott, show „the deficits in the care of obese children and adolescents in Germany, that it has not been possible to create effective and constant programs and counseling services for these young patients.“ Therefore it is „it is all the more important to strengthen health promotion and prevention measures so that childhood overweight does not even occur.“ For example, in order to sensitize parents locally for a healthy diet and healthy physical activity of children, according to the BZgA director, appropriate preventive measures must be established and permanently anchored, especially at the local level. The current study results make it clear that there is still a need for optimization in all offers, whereby a better integration between inpatient and outpatient services is to be achieved in order to achieve sustainability, according to the BZgA communication. In addition to measures to overweight reduction programs are increasingly required to promote health, which provide skills in dealing with diet, exercise and stress. The results of the long-term study and its conclusions were presented on Thursday (October 4) at a symposium during the congress of the German Obesity Society in Stuttgart. (Fp)

Also read about overweight:
Obese children threatened by heart disease
Parents underestimate weight problems of children
Overweight: Students become slimmer again
Unhealthy diet in Germany's clinics
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic
Study: More and more extreme thickness in Germany

Picture credits: Thommy Weiss