Current intervention strategies aimed at prevention of adolescent obesity

Background: Currently 17.6% of adolescents are considered obese and 34.1% are overweight, which is higher than in previous years. This is a major public health concern as obesity is related to greater risk for metabolic and physical problems as well as psychological issues, thus, there is great interest for the development of innovative and effective preventive strategies. The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate current interventions aimed at preventing adolescent obesity.

Methods: Data from MEDLINE, ERIC, and CINAHL were used to collect studies for inclusion in this review. Inclusion criteria for included: 1) publication in English language; 2.) publication between 2007-2009; 3.) a primary research article with an intervention aimed at the prevention of adolescent obesity; 4.) done with adolescents in the ages 10-17 years. A total of 9 interventions met the criteria.

Results: Interventions greatly varied in length from 1-week to a 4-year long intervention, but most were between 3 and 20 months long. It appears that while not all inventions were theory-based, there is a greater trend towards using theories such as: theory of reasoned action, planned behavior, intervention mapping, and social marketing. Schools were also found to be the most commonplace for interventions.

Conclusions: While many studies reported improvements in children's weight status and behavioral measures, more work is needed in this area. Limitations found in many studies included: the underuse of process evaluations, few studies attempted or employed environmental or policy changes, and not all studies used a control group.