Children's Health

Childhood Obesity: Family Plan Helps

Effort Pays Off continued...

During the study, the kids in the Bright Bodies program shed 1.7 points off their average BMI. They also lost about 8 pounds of body fat and improved their sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar.

The results suggest that those children had lowered their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

In contrast, kids in the comparison group added 1 point to their BMI and gained some 12 pounds of body fat. Five children in the group also developed insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

If children in the comparison group had seen their doctors more often, they might have shown more improvement, Savoye notes.

The study didn't show much change in the children's blood pressure or levels of "good" or "bad" cholesterol. Those levels were "close to normal" to begin with, Savoye says, so the researchers didn't expect big changes in those measurements during the study.

The Bright Bodies program is ongoing in New Haven, Conn. Savoye is working with colleagues on guidelines for setting up programs similar to Bright Bodies.