Family-Based Interventions to Treat Obese Children: A Meta Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of family-based interventions on the treatment of childhood obesity. Methods The information of this literature was retrieved from the following several databases: PubMed, EMBASE, SCI, The Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China Journal Full Text Database and Chinese Medical Association Journals, and the references of the included studies were retrieved up to October 2010. The quality of the included studies was evaluated according to Handbook recommended standard by three reviewers. The trials were analyzed using body mass index （BMI, kg/m²）, body weight, systolic blood pressure （SBP）, diastolic blood pressure （DBP）, body fat percentage, percent overweight and body mass index standard deviation score （BMI-SDS） as evaluation indexes to make a comprehensive assessment. The data were analyzed by RevMan 5.0 from the Cochrane Collaboration. Results Seven RCTs（n=479） were included, and the research sites were distributed in China, the United States, Israel, Finland and Turkey. Meta-analysis based on included studies showed: ①Body mass index （BMI） decrease MD=-1.41,95%CI（-2.69, -0.14）, body weight loss MD=-3.48, 95%CI（-6.15, -0.81）, systolic blood pressure （SBP） decrease MD=-4.63, 95%CI（-6.09, -3.16）, diastolic blood pressure （DBP） reduction MD=-2.82, 95%CI（-3.24, -2.41）and body fat percentage change MD=-1.58,95%CI（-1.72, -1.44） had statistical significance in family-based intervention groups compared with non-intervention groups, while percent overweight change MD=-7.36,95%CI（-18.36, 3.64） showed no statistical significance; ②Body mass index （BMI） decrease MD=-1.98, 95%CI（-4.48, 0.53）, body weight loss MD=-6.04, 95%CI（-15.45, 3.37）, and body mass index standard deviation score （BMI-SDS） change MD=-0.04, 95%CI（-0.23, 0.15） had no statistical significance in family-based intervention groups compared with child-based intervention groups. Conclusion The current studies showed that: Among the treatments of behavioral interventions for childhood obesity, family-based intervention has its certain effectiveness when compared with non-intervention groups; however there is no significant difference between child-based intervention with it. Still, this conclusion needs more high-quality researches to support.