Treatment of childhood obesity: What works?

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The epidemic of childhood obesity has left clinicians with important questions concerning effective management strategies. In this issue, van den Akker et al present the 1-year follow-up results of a multidisciplinary cognitive behavioral therapy approach to treat obese children. The program uses group therapy with a variety of behavioral therapy techniques. They found a weight loss of approximately 19% after 1 year in those who completed follow-up. Unfortunately, 33% of the patients dropped out. It is clear that behavioral therapy can be beneficial for some children who are overweight and obese. Further research is needed to determine more effective strategies for those children who drop out of therapy. In this study, the dropouts were older, had higher BMI at baseline, and were less successful in weight management at the early stages of therapy.