Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 Apr;35(4):501-9. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2011.16. Epub 2011 Mar 1.
In general, treatment of childhood obesity focuses on treating the obese children. The results of child-directed treatments are disappointing in the long run. In the current study, it is tested whether a treatment aimed solely at obese children's parents results in positive effects on the children's weight status. In addition, potential predictors of treatment success are identified.
The parents of 98 overweight or obese children (aged 7-13 years) were randomly assigned to either the cognitive-behavioural group treatment (eight sessions) or the waiting-list control group.
With respect to child body mass index (BMI) percentile, the parents' treatment was successful in reducing overweight from pretreatment to posttreatment: BMI percentile decreased significantly by 2.4% in the treatment group, whereas there was no change in the waiting-list control group. There was no significant relapse at follow-up (3 months). Child BMI percentile did not decrease in the waiting-list control group. In addition, significant main effects of time were found for both groups with respect to eating psychopathology (decrease), self-esteem (increase) and negative thoughts (decrease). Finally, parental BMI decreased significantly only in the treatment group. Four predictors were identified with respect to treatment success, namely, lower socioeconomic status, younger age of the child, higher parental attendance and lower BMI percentile of the child before treatment.
The parents' treatment had significant effects on child and parent BMI. Long-term endurance of these positive effects needs to be studied. Striking are the positive effects of time in the waiting-list control group for some psychological outcome measures. Obviously, waiting for treatment already affects psychological processes (but not behaviour) in the children.
一般来说，儿童肥胖症的治疗侧重于治疗肥胖儿童。从长远来看，针对儿童的治疗效果并不理想。在本研究中，我们测试了仅针对肥胖儿童父母的治疗是否会对儿童的体重状况产生积极影响。此外，还确定了潜在的治疗成功预测因素。
98 名超重或肥胖儿童（年龄 7-13 岁）的父母被随机分配到认知行为组治疗（8 个疗程）或等待名单对照组。
就儿童体重指数（BMI）百分位而言，父母的治疗在降低超重方面取得了成功：治疗组的 BMI 百分位从治疗前到治疗后显著下降了 2.4%，而等待名单对照组则没有变化。在随访（3 个月）时没有明显的复发。等待名单对照组的儿童 BMI 百分位没有下降。此外，两组在饮食心理病理学（减少）、自尊（增加）和消极思维（减少）方面均显示出显著的时间主效应。最后，只有治疗组的父母 BMI 显著下降。有四个预测因素与治疗成功相关，即较低的社会经济地位、孩子较年轻、父母较高的出勤率和治疗前孩子较低的 BMI 百分位。
父母的治疗对儿童和父母的 BMI 有显著影响。需要研究这些积极影响的长期持久性。在等待名单对照组中，一些心理结果测量的时间的积极影响引人注目。显然，等待治疗已经会影响儿童的心理过程（而不是行为）。
