Benefits of obese child screening unknown

YORK, England, June 25 (UPI) -- No sound evidence supports weight monitoring to identify and treat obese children, according to a British review of worldwide research.

"The relative benefits and harms of monitoring have not been determined, and the effectiveness of current treatments is doubtful," review authors led by Marie Westwood of the University of York said in a statement. "The value of moving from population monitoring to screening remains at best questionable."

Nevertheless, U.S. experts issued recommendations June 8 to fight the growing epidemic of childhood obesity by urging clinicians to assess children's weight and height annually and then use a staged approach to treatment of overweight youths.

The authors analyzed 31 studies on the use of height and weight monitoring to identify growth-related conditions in children. None of the studies included were randomized controlled trials comparing monitoring to no monitoring, according to the review published in the Health Technology Assessment.

Stigmatization of overweight children and anxiety concerning growth disorders are two possible disadvantages of growth monitoring, said Westwood.