Sports and exercise programs for obese children
Obesity is one of the biggest ‘public health’-issues nowadays and for the future. In the battle against childhood obesity, the Dutch government has encouraged several initiatives such as the development of specific sports and exercise programs. In that respect successful interventions have been developed, which are publicly available through the internet and can be implemented locally with financial support from the authorities.
The available interventions are meant for children in the age of 0 to 4 years with (risk for) (serious) obese and youth between 4 and 18 years with (serious) obese and their parents and should lead to a sustainable sporty and healthy lifestyle:
- knowledge about the underlying quality system which is needed for the selection of successful sports- and exercise programs for obese children
- knowledge about existing sports- and exercise interventions for obese children
- knowledge about the elements which are relevant for a successful implementation of local initiatives, such as parent participation and parenting support, co-operation between sports- and healthcare suppliers, monitoring and evaluation.
International knowhow and best practices related to the fight against obese, such as the MEND program from the UK, are being used during the preparation and implementation of research into the practical impact of interventions. Successful Dutch sports- and exercise interventions have not been implemented on international scale yet.
Results
In joint cooperation with local (youth) healthcare organisations, local sports- and exercise providers are stimulated to realise an extensive and/or larger offering of programs for obese children. For this they can utilize proven, successful interventions such as ‘Cool 2B fit’ and ‘Realfit’ and rely on 2 years of financial subsidies by the government. These initiatives have resulted in an increase in The Netherlands of high quality sports- and exercise programs for obese children.
Contact
Knowledge Centre for Sport Netherlands (Kenniscentrum Sport in Dutch; here abbreviated to KCSportNL) is an independent knowledge institute and is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. We collaborate in sports and in other sectors with the sectors’ most relevant knowledge institutes. KCSportNL is a member of international networks, such as TAFISA and HEPA, and participates in European co-operation projects. Our task is to gather, validate, enhance and distribute knowhow in the sports sector.
Should you like to contact Kenniscentrum Sport about interventions related to youth and obesity, you are invited to send an e-mail to: femke.vanbrussel@kenniscentrumsportenbewegen.nl.
Kenniscentrum Sport & Bewegen (Knowledge Centre for Sport Netherlands)
www.kenniscentrumsportenbewegen.nl
Femke van Brussel
E-mail: femke.vanbrussel@kenniscentrumsportenbewegen.nl
Telephone: +31 (0)318 490 900
