Nutritional evaluation of children and teens in the beginning, end and post a multidisciplinary obesity treatment

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional condition of children and teens in initial, end and post-obesity stages of treatment conducted by a multiprofessional team. Method: The study population consisted of 26 children and teens from the ages of 8 to 18 registered in a Multidisciplinary Obesity Treatment Program that lasted one year. Data collection was performed at three moments: at the beginning and end of treatment through the anamnesis of the participants; and post treatment when the current anthropometric measures were checked. The collected information was: anthropometric measures (weight, height) and personal details (gender, birth date and phone number). In order to classify the nutritional condition, the BMI/Age from WHO, 2007 growth curve was used. Results: A decrease was noticed in the BMI between the beginning (28,57kg/m2) and end (27,08kg/m2) of the program. However, there was an increase in BMI during the post-treatment, reaching 27,56kg/m2. In the beginning of treatment, 76,9% of the participants were obese, and this percentage decreased to 57,7% in the end. During the post-treatment evaluation, an even smaller frequency in obesity was shown (46,2%), along with an increase in the eutrophia cases (15,4%). However, this change in the nutritional condition occurred due to the height and age gain, and not to the weight loss. Conclusion: A decrease in BMI between the beginning and end of the program was noticed, which suggests a positive outcome that was expected in the treatment. However, the increase in BMI during the post-treatment may also indicate that the end of the program and the lack of monitoring make it hard to continue losing weight.