Evidence-Based Interventions for Pediatric Weight Control

Childhood obesity can lead to later life-threatening conditions that impact negatively on quality of life and morbidity and mortality outcomes. This article describes a method to evaluate individual interventions that have been found effective for long-term weight control in children and adolescents. The randomized controlled trials from a 2009 meta-analysis of interventions for treating obesity in children and adolescents were evaluated for external validity using a generalizability assessment framework by Green and Glasgow. Pediatric nurse practitioners who deal with the complicated health challenges of obesity in children are best positioned to use evidence-based interventions to guide their recommendations to children and families. The framework presented in this paper will help guide their decisions on which interventions should be implemented.