Efficacy and Cost Effectiveness of Adolescent Obesity Interventions

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Abstract

Nearly a third of all adolescents are affected by obesity in the US today, and efforts to date have failed to make significant impacts on disease prevalence of this condition in this population. While best practices used to manage adolescent obesity involve multicomponent interventions involving diet, exercise, and lifestyle change, a number of interventions are beginning to use technology-based interventions. Unfortunately, the efficacy and cost effectiveness of both traditional and technology-based interventions have yet to be well defined. In an effort to address these issues and to identify areas for additional research, a literature review was conducted involving primary research published since 2014. Results of this review demonstrated that efficacy of traditional interventions in this population are mostly poor while technology-based interventions show mixed results, and studies examining cost effectiveness are notably scant. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for additional research and research parameters to aid future healthcare decision making in managing adolescent obesity.