Cost Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Interventions: Evidence and Methods for CHOICES
2015
As the childhood obesity epidemic continues in the U.S., fiscal crises are leading policymakers to ask not only whether an intervention works, but also whether it offers good value for money spent. This paper discussed the methods used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of four strategies to address the obesity epidemic: (1) a sugar-sweetened beverage excise tax; (2) eliminating the tax subsidy of TV advertising of unhealthy food to children; (3) early care and education policy changes targeting unhealthy beverages, physical activity, and screen time; and (4) policy changes and teacher training to increase physical activity during existing physical education (PE) classes. These interventions were selected as they represent a broad range of nationally scalable strategies to reduce childhood obesity. This overview paper also discussed various limitations in current research and results, including the lack of established benchmarks for the metric of cost per unit changes in body mass index (BMI).
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Cost Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Interventions: Evidence and Methods for CHOICES
Source:
Gortmaker SL, Long MW, Resch SC, Ward ZJ, Cradock AL et al. Cost Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Interventions: Evidence and Methods for CHOICES. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2015; 49 (1): 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.03.032
Not open access.