New digital tools provide effective support for the treatment of childhood obesity

A mobile app that shows your child’s weight development in real time for obese children offers greater weight loss compared to traditional care. The fact that both family members and healthcare professionals can track the same data facilitates additional personalized support as needed. This is shown by a study by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. International Journal of Obesity..

There is a need to improve the care of obese children and adolescents. Frequent follow-up visits every two weeks are most effective at maintaining behavioral changes, according to international studies.

“But that’s not feasible for families or the healthcare system, so we need to find new ways to provide more support,” said Emilia, a researcher in clinical science, intervention and technology.・ Hugman states. She appreciated Evira’s new digital tool, the mobile app.

This study is a so-called practical study, meaning that participants were not randomized, but that treatment was evaluated in a real clinical environment.

The result improved 100%

100 children attending the Martina Centrum för Vikthälsa in Stockholm were able to experiment with the concept of digital physical treatment for a year. This app is connected to a scale without numbers where the child is standing every day. In the app, the family considers the child’s weight development to be a curve that should be within the development curve of the green weight goal. Goal curves were determined individually and updated during physical visits every three months.

Medical professionals could access the same data. Through the chat feature, healthcare professionals can provide additional support and parents can request additional support as needed.

To ensure Effectiveness, These children were compared to the 300 children of BORIS, the Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Registry. These children were receiving regular care at other clinics in the country during the same period and were randomly selected, but age and gender matched.

Families using the app achieved twice as good results, or greater weight loss, compared to the control group.

Works well in adolescence

This is the first app that allows healthcare professionals and families to monitor their child’s weight development in real time. It was especially pleasing that it worked so well in adolescence that behavior-changing therapies could not reach. This app provides more support and clarity about treatment through continuous feedback. No treatment-related side effects were noticed, for example in the form of eating disorders. “

Pernilla Danielsson Liljeqvist, last author of the study, researcher, clinical science, intervention and technology department of the Karolinska Institute

One limitation of this study was that it was performed in only one clinic. There is also a lack of data on how many physical visits people in the control group have made.

“We know that Swedish childhood obesity treatment focuses on behavioral changes and that control results are consistent with BORIS’s annual report and major international reviews,” Pernilla Danielsson Liljeqvist said. Says. “It didn’t even include the cost of treatment calculation. First, you need to know that it works.”

Tested in more clinics

Evira’s mobile app will be used in more clinics as it has been included in Vårdvalet (Reimbursement Treatment) in Stockholm County, Sweden since June 1, 2022. Researchers are also planning international studies with several European countries.

This study was conducted in collaboration with Martina Children’s Hospital. It was funded by Stockholm County, Vinnova, Swelife, Medtech4Health, the Swedish Freemasonry Children’s Foundation in Stockholm, and Evira AB. Co-author Claude Kollin is the CEO of Martina Children’s Hospital. Co-authors Erik Marcus, Andreas Drangel and Love Marcus are employees and co-owners of Evira, and Claude Marcus is co-owner of Evira. None of Erik Marcus, Andreas Drangel, Love Marcus, or Claude Marcus affected the evaluation of the results.