The proposed study is designed to develop a database to determine the reliability of the effectiveness of behavioral treatments, and to assess influence of a variety of treatment and individual difference variables on five year outcome of obesity treatment and growth after obesity treatment. Treatment effects over a five year period will be established for five randomized controlled outcome studies. Predictor variables will be tested that have been shown to influence the development and treatment of childhood obesity and growth. Treatment variables for weight include the family member targeted for weight loss, behavioral contracting, and types of exercise. Individual difference variables include a variety of individual and family variables, such as pretreatment relative weight, age, sex, compliance to treatment, parent weight, SES, and family size. The prediction of height will include these treatment and individual difference variables, as well as parent height. The database will involve baseline and outcome data collected over a five year period for over 200 children treated using standardized behavioral treatment procedures. It is predicted that significant weight change will be maintained over the five year observation period across the studies. In addition, it is predicted that a substantial amount of the variance in final five year relative weight or growth can be predicted by a combination of individual difference and treatment components. On the basis of previous work, initial child weight, person targeted, parent weight, sex and compliance will serve to predict weight outcome, and child pretreatment height and parent height will predict growth.
