Interventional program for teenagers’ obesity

Abstract EN

Background: The increasing rates of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents have been accompanied by an increase in cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

There is a need for evidence-based interventions that could be used by primary care providers to address this issue.

Teen obesity increases the risk for adult obesity and is associated with negative health consequences.

Objective: To evaluate obesity management through interventional multidisciplinary program for teenagers.

Design: An Interventional Multidisciplinary Program.

Setting: A’Ali Health Center, Kingdom of Bahrain.

Method: An interventional multidisciplinary program for six months from October 2012 to March 2013 was designed for thirteen teenagers.

The mean age was 16.2 years.

The height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) were measured before and after enrollment in the program.

Behavioral parameters were also assessed before and after enrollment in the program.

Data entry was analyzed with SPSS version 19.

Result: The mean BMI during the initial visit was 44.5 (SD±4.42) and at the end of the interventional program, the mean BMI decreased to 42.9 (SD±4.87).

The teen participants showed 77% decrease in screen time to 2 hours/day, 12 (92.3%) had no sugar sweetened beverages, 11 (84.6%) consumed 5 serving of fruits and vegetables daily and 13 (100%) ate breakfast daily.

Conclusion: A group of teenagers enrolled in interventional program showed small but noticeable declines in obesity.

Continued prevention efforts are needed to sustain and expand the implementation and evaluation of population-level interventions to prevent teenagers’ obesity.