Abstract
Background/Objectives
This study aimed to identify the factors associated with short- or long-term non-response to an obesity intervention in children and adolescents.
Subjects/Methods
In this observational study, a total of 242 children and adolescents (sex- and age-specific body mass index (BMI) ≥ 85th percentile) were divided into three groups according to the BMI z-score change after 6 (n = 163) and 24 months (n = 110) of participating in an obesity intervention: responders, low responders, and non-responders if the BMI z-score decrease was ≥0.25, 0 to 0.25, and if it increased, respectively.
Results
Short-term non-response was associated with higher maternal psychosocial stress (OR = 2.34, 95% CI [1.07–5.11]) and adolescence (>11 years; OR = 2.40, 95% CI [1.10–5.22]). The odds of long-term non-response were reduced by an increased vegetable consumption of more than five dishes per week (OR = 0.21, 95% CI [0.07–0.69]) and an hour of increased sleep duration during weekends (OR = 0.14, 95% CI [0.04–0.53]).
Conclusions
Short-term non-response was associated with child and maternal characteristics, whereas long-term non-response was associated with actual lifestyle changes such as sleep duration and vegetable consumption. Children with obesity may benefit from an hour of weekend catch-up sleep in lowering the risk of long-term treatment non-response. An individualized approach should be considered for children of older age and mothers with a higher level of stress, as they may not benefit from a conventional short-term lifestyle intervention.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This research was funded by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency [grant number: 2016ER6405]. This work was supported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency [grant number: 2016ER6405].
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KHP and SW conceptualized the study, performed formal analysis and created the original draft. KHP, SW, YMK, and HJL participated in designing the research protocol and conducting the investigation. KHP, SW, HJS, and JKS contributed to data interpretation and critical revision of the manuscript. All authors have approved the final manuscript.
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The authors declare no competing interests.
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The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines regarding human participants that were approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital (no. 2016-I135). All participants and their primary caretakers provided written informed consent. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
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Woo, S., Song, H.J., Song, JK. et al. Parent and child characteristics associated with treatment non-response to a short- versus long-term lifestyle intervention in pediatric obesity. Eur J Clin Nutr 77, 127–134 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-022-01207-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-022-01207-1