Recommendations for Commissioners of Weight Management Programmes for Children and Families.

Numerous interventions have been implemented across the UK In response to the increasing prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents. However, few of these interventions have been systematically evaluated and their effectiveness documented. Childhood obesity presents a particular problem in the West Midlands where prevalence rates are significantly higher than the national average. The Department of Health West Midlands (DHWM) therefore commissioned an evaluation of child and family weight management programmes (N=7) that were in place in the West Midlands region during July 2007-July 2009 with the aim of determining:
•The benefits to participating children and families in terms of health improvement and behaviour change;
•Possible barriers to change for children and families undertaking treatment programmes;
•The range of short and longer term support (programme content) available for programme participants;
•The cost effectiveness of each intervention.
This paper presents a number of recommendations for commissioners when planning their weight management provision for children and families based on these findings.