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Wilfley said one group in particular -- those treated with SFM who reported few social problems -- did better than the rest of the youngsters.

The bottom line, said Ludwig, is that overweight and obesity needs to be treated as a chronic health problem that needs long-term treatment.

"Overweight is caused by many factors -- a lack of physical activity, the nature of our diets, emotional factors, family dynamics, what's happening in our schools, and larger socioeconomic factors -- so any intervention that focuses on just one factor, such as a new diet, seems unlikely to succeed, said Ludwig, who is also an author of Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World. "We really need to be viewing obesity as a chronic condition for which long-term attention will be needed."

Wilfley said she'd like combine the best aspects of both types of maintenance treatment and continue the treatment for a longer period of time to see if the children could be more successful at maintaining their weight loss.

More information

For more advice on helping kids lose weight and keep it off, read this information from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease's Weight-control Information Network.

SOURCES: Denise Wilfley, Ph.D., professor, psychiatry, medicine and pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., co-author, Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World, and director, Optimal Weight for Life Program, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Oct. 10, 2007, Journal
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