The Effect of Educational Intervention on Body Mass Index and Thyroid Function Tests in Children and Adolescents with Obesity and Overweight

Background Studies declare the possibility of thyroid abnormalities in the obese patients and return of normal thyroid activities after weight loss. Therefore in this study, the effect of educational intervention on body mass index (BMI) and thyroid function tests in obese children has been evaluated. Materials and Methods: The current randomized clinical trial research included 126 overweight or obese children and adolescents with an age range of 7 to 18 years, form Birjand city (Iran), who were divided into two control and intervention groups for 6 months between 2015 and 2016. The educational intervention consisted of 1 session per month (each session was 60 minutes), which was done by the researcher. BMI, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) in both groups were measured and compared before and after the intervention, and data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19.0. Results: In the intervention group, the average of TSH and FT4 after 6 months of intervention showedboth significant decreases and increases, respectively (p=0.003 and p< 0.001). In the control group, both THS and BMI average had a significant increase (p<0.001), and FT3 and FT4 significant decrease (p=0.009 and p=0.001, respectively). After 6 months, BMI and TSH average in the intervention group compare to the control group had significant decrease (p = 0.02 and p<0.001, respectively), and average of FT4 and FT3 was significantly increased (p Conclusion: Educational intervention was effective in reducing BMI and improving thyroid tests; hence, is highly recommended for the modification of BMI and the improvement of thyroid tests in obese children and adolescents.

Keywords:

Adolescents , BMI , Children , Educational intervention , Obesity