Introduction: Obesity is the result of long-term energy imbalances, where daily energy intake exceeds daily energy expenditure. Along with long-term health problems, obesity in children is associated with short-term psychosocial problems, including social marginalisation, low self-esteem, and impaired quality of life. Most obese adolescents stay obese as adults. Obesity is increasing among children and adolescents, with 14% of boys and 17% of girls in the UK aged 2-15 years obese in 2004.
Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of lifestyle interventions for the treatment of childhood obesity? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to August 2006 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Results: We found 10 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.
Conclusions: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: behavioural interventions, diet, multifactorial interventions, and physical activity.