Family-based behavioral treatment of childhood obesity: a 25-year experience

Programmatic review of 25 years of Buffalo-based RCTs of family-based treatment. Across studies, children show ~10-20% reduction in percentage-overweight at one year, with parent target predicting child outcome ("parent as model"). Decreasing "energy-dense red foods" + increasing activity (TV time as target) is the active core. Caveat: sample is mostly non-Hispanic white, middle-class US; replication in diverse populations less robust.