That’s a hard question to answer, according to a systematic review of the literature on the subject that found "limited evidence" on which to base treatment strategies.

"There is an urgent need to improve the quality of studies in this area because childhood obesity poses major health risks for the population," said researchers who reviewed English-language articles from 1973 to 2003 dealing with dietary interventions--in isolation or in combination with lifestyle changes and/or psychological therapies—for persons younger than 18 years of age.

The problem is that, while diet and food intake modification have long been considered essential in curbing adult obesity, "the efficacy of such interventions in the pediatric population is not known," and there are almost no descriptions of the specific interventions or food intake involved in weight loss programs for children and adolescents.

So what to do next? Overweight and obesity are such serious problems that researchers should busy themselves producing high-quality studies that clearly describe the rationale and aim of any dietary interventions and the degree of adherence to them by children and adolescents, and practitioners should report in detail on dietary interventions that seem to be working, suggests an article in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

"Obesity in children is increasing rapidly around the world. The associated major health consequences have been systematically reviewed and the psychological consequences and social marginalization reported. Prevention is clearly the ideal solution to the problem. However, for those already overweight or obese, or at an increased risk of becoming so, effective interventions will offer the only chance of reducing the probability of progression to adult obesity, its associated comorbidities, and the increased risk of premature mortality. An examination of successful interventions along with the key dietary changes achieved by participants would inform the optimal dietary treatment for broad dissemination."

The article, "Measuring Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions in Child Obesity," appears in the September 2006 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Correspondence should be addressed to Claire.Collins@newcastle.edu.au.

See also:
The Role of School Health Professionals in Preventing Childhood Overweight, http://www.healthinschools.org/sh/issuebrief.asp and Body Mass Index for Children, http://www.healthinschools.org/focus/2006/no1.htm.