Trattamento comportamentale dell'obesità essenziale in età pediatrica: studio su 11 soggetti

Eleven obese children, 7 female and 4 male between 7.8 and 13.6 years of age, have been followed by behavioural treatment and nutritional education for 30 months (127 weeks). The behavioural techniques used by the operators have been stimulus control, self monitoring, contingency contract and positive reinforcement. The treatment program included regular meetings with the child and his mother with the following calendar: every week for 6 times, every 2 weeks for 2 times, every month for 6 times, every 4 months for 2 times and 1 control after 12 months. The average initial overweight was 43% (range 68-25) and the final was 20.4 (range 45-1%). The average initial overweight has been recorded in every child under treatment. These results are significantly better than those obtained with traditional dietetic treatment by an obese children's group homogenous with the cases for age, sex and initial overweight. The effect of the treatment was evaluated by the average dicrease in the overweight % and in the triceps skinfold thickness; there was a statiscally significant decrease in both. A positive correlation between the decrease in overweight and time was also present.