How is children’s weight status assessed for early identification of overweight and obesity? – Narrative review of programs for weight status assessment

Abstract

Assessment of a child’s weight status is the first step in the management of childhood overweight and obesity. We reviewed routine assessment programs to inform early and routine identification of childhood overweight and obesity to address this global health issue. Twelve electronic databases were searched (Scopus, Web of Science, Wiley, ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycEXTRA, CINAHL, Primary Search, MEDLINE, ERIC, Academic Search Elite) for universal programs for weight status assessment of children aged 4–12 in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development – countries, which included more than one assessment and parents receiving feedback. Of 1638 papers found via database searches, and 18 additional records identified through other sources, 26 were included. Reference to five countries’ programs for weight status assessment was found in the results: Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. All of these programs were implemented in a school setting. Lack of services, stakeholder collaboration, parental awareness and engagement and government funding need to be improved for this health check to be undertaken as a part of an ongoing program. This review is about the implementation of similar programs. Early identification of risk for overweight and obesity allows families that require help to connect with available health services.

Keywords

Assessment children management obesity overweight prevention weight status

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bailey-Davis

Horst

Hillemeier

. (2012) Obesity disparities among elementary-aged children: data from school-based BMI surveillance. Pediatrics 130(6): 1102–1109.

Blondin

Giles

Cradock

. (2016) US states’ childhood obesity surveillance practices and recommendations for improving them, 2014–2015. Preventing Chronic Disease 13(E97): 1–8.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) Overweight and obesity. Defining childhood obesity. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html (accessed 16 December 2016).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016a) Body Mass Index Measurement in Schools. Executive Summary. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/bmi/pdf/bmi_execsumm.pdf (accessed 22 October 2016).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016b) Developmental monitoring and screening. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/screening.html (accessed 15 December 2016).

Davidson

Vidgen

(2017) Why do parents enrol in a childhood obesity management program?: a qualitative study with parents of overweight and obese children. BMC Public Health 17(1): 159–169.

De Onis

Yip

(1996) The WHO Growth Charts: historical considerations and current scientific issues. Available at: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/publications/WHO_growth_charts.pdf (accessed 15 December 2016).

Department of Health and Community Services and Department of Employment Education and Training (2007) Healthy School-Age Kids. The Northern Territory School-Age Child Health Promotion Program Manual for Remote Communities. Available at: http://remotehealthatlas.nt.gov.au/hsak_manual.pdf (accessed 16 November 2016).

Florida Health Gadsden County (2016) School health. Available at: http://gadsden.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/clinical-and-nutrition-services/school-health/index.html (accessed 22 October 2016).

10.

Gerner

McCallum

Sheehan

. (2006) Are general practitioners equipped to detect child overweight/obesity? Survey and audit. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 42(4): 206–211.

11.

Grimmett

Croker

Carnell

. (2008) Telling parents their child’s weight status: psychological impact of a weight-screening program. Pediatrics 122(3): 682–688.

12.

Henderson

Ells

Rubin

. (2015) Systematic review of the use of data from national childhood obesity surveillance programmes in primary care: a conceptual synthesis. Obesity Reviews 16(11): 962–971.

13.

Identifying and Preventing Overweight in Childhood Clinical Practice Guideline Part I (2006) Journal of Pediatric Health Care 20(2 Suppl): 1–32.

14.

Identifying and Preventing Overweight in Childhood Clinical Practice Guide Part II (2006) Journal of Pediatric Health Care 20(2 Suppl): 33–64.

15.

Ikeda

Crawford

Woodward-Lopez

(2006) BMI screening in schools: helpful or harmful. Health Education Research 21(6): 761–769.

16.

Johnson

Ziolkowski

(2006) School-based body mass index screening program. Nutrition Today 41(6): 274–279.

17.

Johnson

Pilkington

Lamp

. (2009) Parent reactions to a school-based body mass index screening program. Journal of School Health 79(5): 216–223.

18.

Justus

Ryan

Rockenbach

. (2007) Lessons learned while implementing a legislated school policy: body mass index assessments among Arkansas’s public school students. The Journal of School Health 77(10): 706–713.

19.

Koplan

Liverman

Kraak

(2005) Preventing childhood obesity: health in the balance: executive summary. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 105(1): 131–138.

20.

Kubik

Fulkerson

Story

. (2006) Parents of elementary school students weigh in on height, weight, and body mass index screening at school. Journal of School Health 76(10): 496–501.

21.

Lacy

Kremer

de Silva-Sanigorski

. (2012) The appropriateness of opt-out consent for monitoring childhood obesity in Australia. Pediatric Obesity 7(5): e62–e67.

22.

Levine

Connor

Feltbower

. (2009) Weighing and measuring primary school children: evaluation of the TRENDS model for implementation of Department of Health guidelines. Child: Care, Health and Development 35(3): 365–368.

23.

Linchey

Madsen

(2011) State requirements and recommendations for school-based screenings for body mass index or body composition, 2010. Preventing Chronic Disease 8(5): 101–107. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181175/pdf/PCD85A101.pdf (accessed 30 August 2016).

24.

National Health and Medical Research Council (2013) Clinical practice guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity for adults, adolescents and children in Australia. Available at: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n57_obesity_guidelines_131204_0.pdf (accessed 10 March 2015).

25.

NHS Digital (2016) National child measurement programme. Available at: http://content.digital.nhs.uk/NCMP (accessed 16 November 2016).

26.

Nnyanzi

Summerbell

Ells

. (2016) Parental response to a letter reporting child overweight measured as part of a routine national programme in England: results from interviews with parents. BMC Public Health 16(1): 846.

27.

Northern Territory Government of Australia (2015) Healthy School Age Kids. Available at: http://www.health.nt.gov.au/Child_and_Youth_Health/Healthy_School_Age_Kids/index.aspx (accessed 21 October 2015).

28.

Paterson

McKinnon

Edmond

(2001) A review of annual growth screening in aboriginal schoolchildren in Australia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 37(1): 18–23.

29.

Penn State Hershey PRO Wellness Center (2017) Template letter for parent notification. Available at: http://www.health.pa.gov/My%20Health/School%20Health/Documents/Mandated%20School%20Health%20Program/Growth%20Screen/FINAL%20PROWELLNESS%20BMI%20LETTER.pdf (accessed 17 March 2017).

30.

Pennsylvania Department of Health (2011) Procedures for the growth screening program for Pennsylvania’s school-age population. Available at: http://www.health.pa.gov/My%20Health/School%20Health/Documents/Mandated%20School%20Health%20Program/Growth%20Screen/Growth%20Manual%20Final%20Draft%20010715.pdf (accessed 16 November 2016).

31.

Pennsylvania Department of Health (2016) Growth Screening Program. Available at: http://www.health.pa.gov/My%20Health/School%20Health/Pages/Quick%20Links/Mandated%20School%20Health%20Program/Growth-Screen.aspx#.WCuIeLJ95hE (accessed 16 November 2016).

32.

The PRISMA statement (2015) Available at: http://www.prisma-statement.org/statement.htm (accessed 27 March 2015).

33.

Public Health England (2011) Top tips for top kids leaflet. Available at: https://www.orderline.dh.gov.uk/ecom_dh/public/saleproduct.jsf?catalogueCode=C4L301 (accessed 15 March 2017).

34.

Public Health England (2015) National Child Measurement Programme Operational Guidance 2015 to 2016. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463929/NCMP_Operational_Guidance_21015_16.pdf (accessed 28 April 2015).

35.

Public Health England (2016) National Child Measurement Programme Operational Guidance 2016. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/531878/NCMP-Operational-Guidance.pdf (accessed 16 November 2016).

36.

Ruggieri

Bass

(2015) A comprehensive review of school-based body mass index screening programs and their implications for school health: do the controversies accurately reflect the research? Journal of School Health 85(1): 61–72.

37.

Ryan

Card-Higginson

McCarthy

. (2006) Arkansas fights fat: translating research into policy to combat childhood and adolescent obesity. Health Affairs 25(4): 992–1004.

38.

Schultz

(2012) Prevalences of overweight and obesity among children in remote Aboriginal communities in central Australia. Rural and Remote Health 12(1): 1–5. Available at: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84865100442&partnerID=40&md5=72a0d8f2307ea1ea1379cffcecd85afd (accessed 6 October 2015).

39.

Sivertsen

Woolfenden

Woodhead

. (2008) Diagnosis and management of childhood obesity: a survey of general practitioners in South West Sydney. Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health 44(11): 622–629.

40.

Sjöberg

Lissner

Albertsson-Wikland

. (2008) Recent anthropometric trends among Swedish school children: evidence for decreasing prevalence of overweight in girls. Acta Pædiatrica 97(1): 118–123.

41.

Spurrier

Magarey

Wong

(2006) Recognition and management of childhood overweight and obesity by clinicians. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 42(7–8): 411–418.

42.

Tennessee Department of Education and Tennessee Department of Health (2015) Tennessee School Health Screening Guidelines. Available at: http://www.tennessee.gov/assets/entities/education/attachments/csh_school_health_screening_guidelines.pdf (accessed 16 November 2016).

43.

The ad hoc working group on science and evidence for ending childhood obesity (2016) Consideration of the evidence on childhood obesity for the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity: report of the ad hoc working group on science and evidence for ending childhood obesity. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/206549/1/9789241565332_eng.pdf?ua=1 (accessed 3 November 2016).

44.

Thompson

Card-Higginson

(2009) Arkansas’ experience: statewide surveillance and parental information on the child obesity epidemic. Pediatrics 124(1 Suppl): S73–S82.

45.

Timpka

Angbratt

Bolme

. (2007) A high-precision protocol for identification of preschool children at risk for persisting obesity. Plos One 2(6): e535.

46.

van Grieken

Renders

Veldhuis

. (2014) Promotion of a healthy lifestyle among 5-year-old overweight children: health behavior outcomes of the ‘Be active, eat right’ study. BMC Public Health 1459–1459.

47.

van Grieken

Veldhuis

Renders

. (2013) Population-based childhood overweight prevention: outcomes of the ‘Be active, eat right’ study. Plos One 8(5): e65376.

48.

Verbrugge

(1990) Youth health care in the Netherlands: a bird’s eye view. Pediatrics 86(6): 1044–1047. Available at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/86/6/1044.full.pdf (accessed 6 October 2015).

49.

Werner

Bodin

Bremberg

(2006) Data on height and weight from school health records as a national public health surveillance tool: the case of Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 34(4): 406–413.

50.

World Health Organization (2017) Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity: implementation plan. Available at: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB140/B140_30-en.pdf (accessed 15 February 2017).