The Impact of the ENDORSE Digital Weight Management Program on the Metabolic Profile of Children and Adolescents with Overweight and Obesity and on Food Parenting Practices
Panagiota Pervanidou,
Evi Chatzidaki,
Nicolas C. Nicolaides,
Antonis Voutetakis,
Nektaria Polychronaki,
Vassiliki Chioti,
Rosa-Anna Kitani,
Eleni Kyrkopoulou,
Konstantia Zarkogianni,
Eleftherios Kalafatis,
Kostas Mitsis,
Κonstantinos Perakis,
Konstantina Nikita,
Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein
Affiliations
Panagiota Pervanidou
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Evi Chatzidaki
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Nicolas C. Nicolaides
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Antonis Voutetakis
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Nektaria Polychronaki
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Vassiliki Chioti
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Rosa-Anna Kitani
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Eleni Kyrkopoulou
Department of Economics, University of Piraeus, 18534 Pireas, Greece
Konstantia Zarkogianni
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Eleftherios Kalafatis
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Kostas Mitsis
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Κonstantinos Perakis
UBITECH, Big Data Science & Analytics Unit, 15231 Athens, Greece
Konstantina Nikita
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein
First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece
Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem worldwide. The ENDORSE platform is an innovative software ecosystem based on Artificial Intelligence which consists of mobile applications for parents and health professionals, activity trackers, and mobile games for children. This study explores the impact of the ENDORSE platform on metabolic parameters associated with pediatric obesity and on the food parenting practices of the participating mothers. Therefore, the metabolic parameters of the 45 children (mean age: 10.42 years, 53% girls, 58% pubertal, mean baseline BMI z-score 2.83) who completed the ENDORSE study were evaluated. The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire was used for the assessment of food parenting practices. Furthermore, regression analysis was used to investigate possible associations between BMI z-score changes and changes in metabolic parameters and food parenting practices. Overall, there was a statistically significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin (mean change = −0.10, p = 0.013), SGOT (mean change = −1.84, p = 0.011), and SGPT (mean change = −2.95, p = 0.022). Emotional feeding/food as reward decreased (mean change −0.21, p = 0.007) and healthy eating guidance increased (mean change = 0.11, p = 0.051). Linear regression analysis revealed that BMI z-score change had a robust and significant correlation with important metabolic parameters: HOMA-IR change (beta coefficient = 3.60, p-value = 0.046), SGPT change (beta coefficient = 11.90, p-value = 0.037), and cortisol change (beta coefficient = 9.96, p-value = 0.008). Furthermore, healthy eating guidance change had a robust negative relationship with BMI z-score change (beta coefficient = −0.29, p-value = 0.007). Conclusions: The Endorse digital weight management program improved several metabolic parameters and food parenting practices.
