OBJECTIVE: To review child and adolescent weight-related health intervention characteristics, with a particular focus on levels of parental participation, and examine differences in intervention effectiveness. METHODS: Multiple social science, health, and medical databases were searched, and experimental randomized controlled studies of child and adolescent weight-related health interventions, reported in January 2004 through December 2010, were collected. Intervention characteristics were reviewed, and pre- and post-measurement data, including body mass index, were extracted for analyses. Differences in effect sizes of experimental and control groups were used to evaluate effectiveness of interventions. RESULTS: Reports of 42 interventions were included. Intervention activities consisted of nutrition education, physical activity education, physical activity sessions, behavior education, behavior therapy, or a combination of these activities. Significant differences existed among levels of parent participation, p < 0.05. In addition, intervention duration positively predicted intervention effectiveness, p = 0.006, and the linear combination of parent participation and intervention duration significantly predicted intervention effectiveness, p = 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that weight-related health interventions that require parent participation more effectively reduce body mass indexes of child and adolescent participants. In addition, longer interventions that include parent participation appear to have greater success. Suggestions for future research and related interventions are provided.
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