Obesity and overweight. An assessment of the effectiveness of a public health intervention

Introduction: The prevalence of excess weight (obesity and overweight) is increasing in developed countries, with preventive measures not shown to be sufficiently effective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the sustained prevention and treatment by Primary Care Paediatrics of overweight from early childhood. Material and methods: The BMI of 1669 patients from two Paediatric Teams, were compared using four different age intervals between 4 and 14 years during 2007-2009. One of the teams had spent 15 years carrying out a systematic strategy aimed at the prevention and monitoring of overweight. Results: The BMI means in this study were higher than those shown in the 1988 Orbegozo tables, particularly in older ages and in males. The prevalence of overweight was lower in the population with the systematic intervention team, and this was significant at the end of the paediatric age, 14 years (P= .043). Conclusions: The overweight problem is so great that the measures aimed at their prevention are clearly beyond the scope of health professionals. However, interventions by health professionals can be effective in maintaining a healthy weight, if they are carried out on an ongoing basis. (c) 2013 Asociacion Espanola de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.