The Importance of Early Interventions in Childhood Obesity – One

I'm Paulina Navicka and I'm professor in food studies, nutrition dietetics at Uppsala University in Sweden.

I'm going to talk about early obesity interventions. and with early I mean four families with children aged 2 to 6 years diagnosed with obesity.

One focus on early obesity.

We know from many studies that obesity in childhood is a predictor of obesity in adulthood.

This is especially true if the child has developed severe obesity or if one or both of parents are also living with obesity or have a history of obesity.

In these situations, the likelihood that the obesity will simply go away as the child grows into adolescence becomes much smaller.

A child's age plays a significant role in treatment outcomes.

Simply put, the younger a child is when treatment starts, the better the long-term outcomes tend to be.

Why is early treatment more effective?

Well, there are three main reasons.

First, it is simply easier to form habits early in life.

Our brains are wired that way.

The second reason that many changes in family environment can happen without directly involving the child.

These are small, almost invisible adjustments that gently guide kids toward healthier habits.

For example, not buying high-calorie treat foods like chips as often.

Or keeping healthier options like fruits visible and easy to grab.

The third reason is that any treatment often feels more like health promotion than treatment.

It's about making changes that benefit the whole family.

For example, encouraging preschoolers to choose water as their go-to drink.

A simple change that is not only great for health and well-being, but also for keeping everyone's teeth healthy.

So what are the most common barriers to early treatment?

One cultural change may be that many parents and grandparents see excess baby fat as cute and healthy, even when the child is no longer a baby but a preschooler.

As one father shared in a study I conducted, I think children should be nice and thick.

A healthy baby, nice, thick, chubby cheeks, chubby little legs, you know.

Another barrier is that some parents view rapid weight gain in preschool age as a natural part of growing up.

For example, one mother told me, "I believe children have hills and valleys.

They grow at different rates.

They go through a pudgy phase and then they just grow like a tree and lean up.

The third challenge is that parents worry that talking about their children's weight could hurt their self-esteem or even lead to an eating disorder.

How can we overcome barriers to early treatment?

First, we need to have ongoing, non-judgmental conversations with parents about how children grow, helping them understand what expected development through childhood may look like.

Second, it is important to explain that for most children with severe obesity, it is unlikely that the obesity simply goes away as they grow older.

And here's the good news.

Early treatment is much more effective than addressing it in adolescence because it focuses on making small, manageable changes to the child's health habits with a minimal risk of causing eating disorders.

Let me wrap up with an example of a childhood obesity treatment for families with children aged 4 to 6 years.

It's called the More or Less program, a parent support group that focuses on positive parenting combined with practical lifestyle advice.

Research showed that this approach was significantly more effective than standard treatment that focuses mainly on lifestyle advice one year and even four years after starting.

That said, it's worth noting that after four years, both the parent support group and standard treatment showed great results, proving that early treatment can lead to lasting positive outcomes.

Keep in mind that obesity is a chronic condition, so while early treatment makes a difference, it doesn't completely remove the risk of obesity later in life.

Ongoing support within the healthcare system remains essential.

I'm Paulina Wiska for 5MinutesCPT.

Thanks for watching.

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