Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics (Aug 2019)

Translating knowledge into action to prevent pediatric and adolescent diabesity: a meeting report

  • Balakumaran J,
  • Kao YY,
  • Wang KW,
  • Ronen GM,
  • MacKillop J,
  • Thabane L,
  • Samaan MC

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 10
pp. 91 – 101

Abstract

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Janatani Balakumaran,*,1,2 Yun-Ya Kao,*,1,2 Kuan-Wen Wang,1,2 Gabriel M Ronen,1 James MacKillop,3 Lehana Thabane,1,4–7 M Constantine Samaan1,2,41Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 2Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 3Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, McMaster University/St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 4Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 5Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 6Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St. Joseph’s Health Care, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 7Biostatistics Unit, St Joseph’s Healthcare-Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaCorrespondence: M Constantine SamaanDepartment of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, McMaster Children’s Hospital, 1280 Main Street West, HSC-3A57, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, CanadaTel +1 905 521 2100 ext. 75926Fax +1 905 308 7548Email [email protected]*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: The obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) rates are at an all-time high globally. This diabesity epidemic is increasingly impacting children and adolescents, and there is scarce evidence of interventions with favourable long-term outcomes.Purpose: In order to understand the determinants of diabesity and how to address them, multiple stakeholders were invited to a meeting to discuss current state of knowledge and to help design a program to prevent pediatric and adolescent diabesity.Participants and methods: The meeting was held at McMaster University on March 4th, 2015. The event involved presentations to deliver state-of-the-art knowledge about diabesity, and roundtable discussions of several domains including nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and mental health. Discussion transcripts were analyzed using NVivo.Results: Forty-nine participants took part in the workshop. They included clinical healthcare professionals, public health, Aboriginal Patient Navigator, research scientists, students, and patients with family members. A total of 628 reference counts from the roundtable discussions were coded under 20 emerging themes. Participants believed that the most important elements of the program involve the provision of knowledge and education, family involvement, patient motivation, location of program delivery, and use of surveys and questionnaires for outcome measurement.Conclusion: Effective pediatric and adolescent diabesity prevention programs should be conceptualized by multidisciplinary stakeholders and embrace the complexity of diabesity with multiprong interventions. This meeting provided a framework for developing such interventions.Keywords: diabesity, meeting, pediatric, adolescent, obesity, pediatric type 2 diabetes mellitus

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