What works in preventing obesity?

Journal editors love it when they simultaneously receive two studies addressing the same problem which give contradictory results. When the subject is obesity prevention, for which a myriad of negative studies are submitted, and one shows a possible positive effect, the excitement in the editorial office is even greater.

JAMA published together two American randomised trials of community-based early interventions. The first, from a deprived area of Nashville, Tennessee, randomised 600 children aged 3 to 5 years already at risk of obesity (Barkin S et al. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.9128). The intervention families received 12 weekly parenting skills-building sessions, followed by monthly phone calls, for a year. The controls received a school-readiness intervention only. After 3 years, although they ate slightly fewer calories, their BMIs did not differ from controls (mean 17.8 kg/m2 for both groups).

The second, from a more prosperous population in Pennsylvania, recruited 300 young infants at age 3...

from Archives of Disease in Childhood current issue https://ift.tt/2EwjN7L