Fun diet, exercise could help reduce childhood obesity

22/07/05 Children enrolled in kid-oriented diet and exercise programs are likely to adopt healthier eating and activity patterns, according to an updated systematic review. Although the youngsters did not experience significant weight loss during the studies, most of which lasted a year or less, the reviewers note promising trends.

"If those children could sustain the changes in food and physical activity then that would make a [weight] difference in the long term," says lead author Carolyn Summerbell, a professor of human nutrition at the University of Teesside in England.

According to Summerbell, the health programs that are effective for children are those that put some fun into fitness and food. Dance programs based on the latest music are popular with girls, while boys often enjoy martial arts. "They don't want the boring old sports and training that are often in the curriculum," she says.

The updated review, which appears in the July issue of The Cochrane Library, includes 22 studies. That's more than double the number available when the review was originally published in 2001. This is good news, according to the report, because "It is becoming increasingly clear that decision makers need much more information upon which to base policy and program decisions."

The Cochrane Library is a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. Visit cochrane.org for more information.

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