Treatment Results and Health Care Consumption From a Web-based Support System in Behavioural Childhood Obesity Treatment

In this study children with obesity will be randomized to either usual care according to regular routine (control) or to usual care plus a web-based support system (intervention). Based on previous reviews on mobile health and obesity in combination with the investigators' experiences of childhood obesity treatment components were identified which the researchers hypothesize are of major importance for a web-based system for childhood obesity treatment: Frequent self-monitoring of weight and physical activity, goals for weight loss, and feedback from the treatment team. The system is based on a smart phone application connected to a scale and an activity measuring wrist-band. Data is automatically transferred from the accessories to the smart phone, where data is presented graphically. The data is further transferred to the clinic for support and communication between the clinic and the parents. The randomization will be done at the start of individual treatment and will last for 12 months. The main aim is to evaluate if use of the web-based support system will give better results on degree of obesity compared with usual care.

Inclusion criteria

• Obesity according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)
• Swedish speaking parents
• Parents able to use a smart phone
• Patients new in treatment or in treatment during the past 9-15 months with a decrease of BMI SDS with ≤0.25

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnosed with or undergoing assessment of neuropsychiatric disorder
• Hypothalamic obesity
• Pharmacological treatment that could intervene the obesity treatment