Background: Childhood obesity is associated with enormous health consequences and costs
to society. This study aims to systematically review the studies on Cost Effectiveness Analysis
(CEA) of primary prevention programmes of childhood obesity, discussing the gaps and providing
recommendations for future research.
Met hods: All the studies on the cost effectiveness evaluation of primary prevention of obesity among
children were included. Studies were retrieved from MEDLINE and Google Scholar, up to 31st March 2012,
with only English language papers being eligible. The quality of the retrieved studies was evaluated by
using the Drummond scale.
Results: Eight studies were included, five of which concerning community-based intervention
programmes, while three school-based programmes. Fifty-percent of the studies, 3 school-based and
1 community-based primary prevention programme reported the intervention being cost effective.
The studies were heterogeneous in terms of study design, quality, target population and outcome
measures. Use of the Drummond scale showed that the eight studies were of low-medium quality.
ConclusionS: Although model-based studies may be considered as practical measures applicable
to different type of programmes and settings, we auspicate for a convergence towards the use of
homogenous clinical and outcome measures in order to properly evaluate the added value of obesity
primary prevention programmes in childhood