LOS ANGELES—Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC will present new findings and strategies for combating childhood obesity at the 5th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference, June 9 to12.
Researchers will discuss using wireless body networks and interactive multimedia to promote physical activity in children, and the link between childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Donna Spruijt-Metz, Ph.D., associate professor, department of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, will present an overview of the KNOWME NETWORKS study—a program to develop a Mobile Body Area Network that monitors obesity indicators in minority youth.
The network, developed in conjunction with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, will use a set of wearable wireless sensors that measure physical activity, stress, location in time and space, body fat and a number of other factors. Data will be immediately transmitted to a secure server for storage and analyses. The KNOWME device will be calibrated for the specific user, and researchers will be able to “ping” a participant who remains sedentary for too long, Spruijt-Metz said.
Two Los Angeles County schools used interactive CD-ROMs for an eight-week long health curriculum, while two control schools received educational CD-ROMs not related to health. Researchers found that the program had a significant impact on obesity reduction in girls, but not in boys.
The results reflect the fact that girls and boys have very different activity levels and attitudes about activity, and interventions will need to be tailored more specifically, Spruijt-Metz says. However, she believes the study also indicates that technology is an important tool in preventing obesity in youth.
“Technology gives us more objective and reliable measures than self-reporting,” she said. “It is particularly appealing because it offers immediate feedback and will allow interventionists and health professionals to respond directly to the child’s behavior as part of the intervention.”
