| In: Scientific Research
Study: Social Training Helps Children Sustain Weight Loss
As we know, childhood weight problems can be the unfortunate precursor of a lifetime battle with overweight or obesity. A new study, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows encouraging ways to reverse the trend.
The study authors, led by Dr. Denise E. Wilfley at Washington University in St. Louis, found that the rebound weight gain was attenuated when children with few social problems were given social facilitation training.
The study included 150 healthy, overweight children, between 7 and 12 years of age, with at least one overweight parent.
At the end of the initial 5-month treatment program, 150 kids were randomly assigned to one of two family-based approaches — a behavioral skills maintenance intervention, a social facilitation maintenance intervention, or to no ongoing contact after the initial weight loss program. The interventions encompassed 16 weekly sessions, and included the children along with their parents.
“Behavioral skills maintenance takes a cognitive-behavioral approach to weight maintenance,” the authors explain, “emphasizing self-regulation behavioral and relapse prevention strategies.” In contrast, they say, social facilitation maintenance depends on parental support of “child peer networks that support healthy eating and physical activity.”
