Delphi survey for designing a intervention research study on childhood obesity prevention

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity in South Korea has increased owing to economic improvement and the prevailing Westernized dietary pattern. As the incidence of chronic diseases caused by obesity is also expected to increase, effective interventions to prevent childhood obesity are needed. Therefore, we conducted a Delphi study to determine the priorities of a potential intervention research on childhood obesity prevention and its adequacy and feasibility. Methods: The two-round Delphi technique was used with a panel of 10 childhood obesity experts. The panelists were asked to rate priority populations, methods of intervention, measurement of outcomes, future intervention settings, and duration of intervention by using a structured questionnaire. Finally, a portfolio analysis was performed with the adequacy and feasibility indexes as the two axes. Results: For priority populations, the panel favored elementary, preschool, and middle and high school students in this order. Regarding intervention settings, the panelists assigned high adequacy and feasibility to childcare centers and home for preschool children, school and home for elementary school children, and school for adolescents in middle and high school. As the age of the target population increased, the panelists scored increasing numbers of anthropometric, clinical, and intermediate outcomes as highly adequate and feasible for assessing the effectiveness of the intervention. Conclusion: According to the results of the Delphi survey, the highest-priority population for the research on childhood obesity prevention was that of elementary school students. Various settings, methods, outcome measures, and durations for the different age groups were also suggested. © 2017 The Korean Academy of Family Medicine.