Childhood obesity is recognised as a global challenge by the World Health Organisation’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity(1) and providing treatment is a key action of the Healthy Weight for Ireland, Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016-2025(2). Recent population studies estimate that 7%(80,000) of Irish children are obese and 1.8%(21,000) are severely obese(3). Short-term consequences of childhood obesity(CO) include: joint pain; sleep apnoea; hypertension; endocrine dysfunction and mental health difficulties(4-6). In the longer term, children are at greater risk of adult obesity, heart disease, cancers, type-2 diabetes, and reduced mortality(7, 8). In addition to effects on child health, obesity impacts the economic system with an increased risk of paediatric hospital admissions(9) and lifetime costs of 4-billion euro(10).
Clinical guidelines(11) provide recommendations for treatment of CO but little is known regarding the capacity of the Irish health system to offer such care. This collaborative project with the Health Services Executive aims to generate relevant data and resources to support the implementation of an obesity-care pathway for children and adolescents in the Irish healthcare system.
We will use a mixed-methods approach to:
1) assess the current status of care available including, location and type of treatment from the perspective of health professionals, healthcare managers and service-users;
2) identify gaps in service provision, and explore the perspectives of health professionals, healthcare managers and service-users on how to implement equitable care and;
3) co-produce a framework document to support the co-production of capacity-building resources for treating CO in Ireland.
We anticipate the generated data will inform stakeholders on what resources are available and how to work collaboratively toward improved implementation such that evidence and policy related to obesity treatment can be translated into Irish healthcare. Finally, we anticipate the project will facilitate establishing a community/network of practice interested in delivering quality treatment for CO.
