Involving family in childhood obesity care linked with bigger BMI losses

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-28 01:00

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US scientists say adding family-based behavioural treatment (FBT) to an 'enhanced standard of care' (ESOC) approach for the treatment of childhood obesity leads to bigger losses in body mass index (BMI) than ESOC alone. FBT is an intervention that targets diet, physical activity, behavioural skills, and parenting, while facilitating support in both family and peer environments. However, this intensive approach is not always available, so doctors often deliver the best-available intensive
treatment instead, referred to as enhanced standard of care (ESOC). The team randomly allocated 730 kids, aged six to 15, to receive ESOC alone, or a combination of ESOC and FBT. They found the combination resulted in the biggest BMI losses, with nearly half of the children receiving both ESOC and FBT losing clinically meaningful amounts of weight.

News release

From: JAMA

Family-Centered Child Obesity Treatment

Is family-based behavioral treatment (FBT) with enhanced standard of care (ESOC) more effective than ESOC alone for reducing childhood obesity? In this multicenter pragmatic randomized clinical trial that randomized 730 children aged 6 to 15 years across 41 primary care practices, ESOC+FBT significantly reduced percent median BMI compared with ESOC alone. Nearly half of the children receiving ESOC+FBT achieved clinically meaningful weight reduction, and both groups experienced reductions in percent median BMI. Study results show that FBT delivered with ESOC in primary care improved child weight outcomes compared with ESOC alone and was feasible across a geographically and socioeconomically diverse population.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, USA

Funder: This work was supported through Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award PCS-2017C2–7542; the Louisiana Blue and Louisiana Healthcare Connections; theWashington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences grant UL1TR002345 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Pennington Biomedical Research Center grant U54 GM104940 funded by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), Institutional Development Award Program Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR); the University of Rochester CTSA award number UL1 TR002001 from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; training grant T32 HL 130357 provided by the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and a NORC Center Grant P30DK072476 titled “Nutrition and Metabolic Health Through the Lifespan” sponsored by the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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