Implementation of Community-Based Programs Essential for Obesity Prevention During Childhood

Old habits die hard, and that's certainly true for what you pick up as early as childhood.

Unfortunately, symptoms of unhealthy eating habits can grow during adolescents and rapidly carry-on all the way into adulthood.

However, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health believe that confronting childhood obesity early can make a dramatic difference in a child's life. Thus, by using prevention programs early, including community-based intervention programs that incorporate schools and focus on both diet and physical activity, they can help to positively prevent the epidemic from spreading.

 "In measuring the effectiveness of community-based programs that impact childhood obesity - more comprehensive interventions are definitely better," said Sara Bleich, PhD, associate professor of Health Policy and Management and lead author on the paper. "The research shows that in order to help prevent obesity among children, we must focus on both diet and exercise in the communities where children live and go to school since the environment is a key contributor to obesity risk. Focusing on the community is especially important for children since they generally have little or no control over their environment."

The study notes that researchers examined nine studies that featured community-based interventions, which showed that two interventions included a school component that effectively prevented obesity in children. Common characteristics found across most of the nine studies included the inclusion of settings other than just the community and a focus on middle school age children or younger.

 "While additional research is needed to assess the full impact of community-based interventions on the prevention of childhood obesity, our conclusions indicate that more comprehensive approaches, which attempt to modify diet and exercise in the community with engagement from the schools, weigh in everyone's favor," said Bleich.

The project was funded under contract 290-2007-10061-l from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The findings for the study can be found online in the journal Pediatrics.