Success of meal boxes in treating childhood obesity
Healthy recipes and subsidized meal boxes can go a long way in helping child obesity. These are the findings of a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. The boxes were approved by the families investigated and as long as the families had access to them the children's BMI decreased more than with lifestyle treatment alone.
The study, published in the European Journal of Pediatrics, aimed to investigate the effects of a hitherto untested concept in the treatment of childhood obesity: usual lifestyle treatment through counselling combined with healthy recipes and subsidized meal boxes for the whole family.
The study included 89 children aged 5-15 years enrolled at one of the child obesity clinics in northern Halland, Sweden. 54 children and their families were randomized to receive lifestyle treatment and meal boxes. The remaining 35 children and their families formed the control group and received lifestyle treatment through counselling only.
Every week for three months, the meal box families could pick up recipes and pre-packed boxes with ingredients for five family dinners to follow the Swedish Food Agency's dietary recommendations. The aim was to involve the whole family and for the dietary treatment at home.
More significant BMI reduction with meal boxes
The children's BMI at 3, 12, and 18-24 months were then examined. A key question was whether the meal boxes with preselected ingredients would work and be accepted by the families.
One of the study's main authors is Lovisa Sjögren, a Pediatric Researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and a Pediatrician at Halland Hospital Halmstad and Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Gothenburg.
“Many people report that it is difficult to cook varied meals from scratch and have meals together as a family, but this proved tolerable. The meal box intervention was not perceived as stressful or intrusive and fights over food shopping, and meals were reduced,” she says.
During the meal box period, the first three months, obesity rates decreased more in the meal box families, suggesting that a dietary intervention involving the whole family can be effective. However, at 18-24 months, the most significant BMI reduction was seen in children whose families had only received lifestyle treatment throughout.
Changing diets is difficult and expensive
Generation Pep and the ICA Foundation supported the heavily discounted meal boxes. Local ICA retailers also participated in packing and delivery. The researchers believe reduced prices and tangible support can determine whether a family can cope with a dietary change.
“Children are born with a love of movement, but some children also have a disturbance of their hunger and satiety regulation, and it is important that we also focus on food, not just physical activity. There is a prejudice that all children with a high BMI are sedentary,” says Lovisa Sjögren.
She believes that Family Meals on Prescription (FMP) with subsidized meal boxes could be established similarly to Physical Activity on Prescription (PAP) with subsidized exercise activities.
“There is a belief that counselling can change eating habits, but studies show that in practice, this is difficult. This study shows a workable alternative, although we believe the intervention should be longer. There are now new pharmacotherapies to treat Obesity during childhood. However, before initiating pharmacotherapy, we should identify the children for whom a more intensive dietary intervention may be effective,” says Lovisa Sjögren.
Study: Family meals on prescription as treatment for childhood obesity—a randomized controlled trial