Research: Lifestyle changes benefit overweight kids

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Chinese medianet) --

Efforts to fight obesity among children and teens should include strategies to

help them think differently about their eating and

exercise habits, saida review of 64 studies of lifestyle "therapy" and drug

interventions as quoted in media reports Thursday.

And it's important for parents to get involved, especially for pre-adolescent

children, Dr. Hiltje Oude Luttikhuis, of the Beatrix Children's Hospital

in Groningen, The Netherlands, and her colleagues said in the

review.

The review is published in the Cochrane Library,

which is put out by The Cochrane Collaboration, an international group that

produces systematic reviews of health care interventions.

The current review is an update

of the first one, done in 2003. No direct conclusions could be drawn from the

earlier review, Luttikhuis and her team noted, because of the small size of many

of the studies as well as quality concerns.

The new review incorporates randomized, controlled

trials published as recently as May 2008, including 12 targeting increased

activity; 6 focused on diet; 36 of behavioral treatment; and 10 of drug therapy.

The studies included 5,230 children in all.

The reviewconfirmed that behavioral lifestyle interventions

can help kids lose weight, they noted.

(Agencies)