%0 Journal Article
%T The cost-effectiveness of a school-based overweight program
%A Henry Shelton Brown
%A Adriana P¨Śrez
%A Yen-Peng Li
%A Deanna M Hoelscher
%A Steven H Kelder
%A Roberto Rivera
%J International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
%D 2007
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1479-5868-4-47
%X The results show that CATCH is cost-effective and net beneficial. The CER was US$900 (US$903 using Hispanic parameters) and the NB was US$68,125 (US$43,239 using Hispanic parameters), all in 2004 dollars. This is much lower than the benchmark for CER of US$30,000 and higher than the NB of US$0. Both were robust to sensitivity analyses.Childhood school-based programs such as CATCH are beneficial investments. Both NB and CER declined when Hispanic parameters were included, primarily due to the lower wages earned by Hispanics. However, both NB and CER for Hispanics were well within standard cost-effectiveness and net benefit thresholds.Childhood overweight is a major threat to child health in the US [1]. Unfortunately, overweight children are not likely to return to normal weight later in life [2-4]. Aside from the correlation of lifetime behaviors [5], treatment strategies for obese adults remain largely ineffective [6-11]. Obesity in adulthood is closely associated with chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, high blood cholesterol levels, joint problems, some cancers, and gall bladder disease [12-15]. The prevalence of overweight [1] among children has doubled in the last twenty years [16], disproportionately affecting minorities [17-20].Because no other institution has as much continuous and intensive contact with children, schools can provide a pivotal role in physical activity and nutrition interventions. Further, school programs can be delivered at low cost to families, reaching all socioeconomic levels. A number of school-based interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors have been evaluated for effectiveness in terms of outcomes in the last 15 years [21-30]. Of all these programs, two stand out among the rest because of their sophisticated study design (Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH)) and program impact on childhood overweight (Planet Health). Given that there are relatively few
%U http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/4/1/47