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Updated: May 8, 2026
09:36
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Analyzing Screening Policies for Childhood Obesity
Yan Yang1, Jeremy D Goldhaber-Fiebert, Lawrence M Wein
1Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, yanyang@stanford.edu.
Management Science
|August 20, 2013
Summary
This study optimized childhood obesity screening using dynamic programming, finding that focusing on older adolescents reduces disease prevalence more effectively than current guidelines. The optimal strategy lowers costs by 28% while maintaining disease prevention.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Health Economics
Background:
- Childhood obesity poses significant health and economic burdens.
- The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends obesity screening from age six.
- Comprehensive interventions include diet, physical activity, and behavioral counseling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine optimal biennial obesity screening thresholds for children (ages 2-16).
- To evaluate screening policies from a societal perspective, considering population-wide body mass index distributions.
- To compare dynamic programming-derived thresholds against current recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized longitudinal body mass index data for 3164 children and 747 adults.
- Formulated and solved a dynamic programming problem to find optimal biennial screening thresholds.
- Considered societal viewpoint, with system state as population-wide probability density function of body mass index.
Main Results:
- Dynamic programming thresholds reduced disease prevalence by 3% at equivalent cost compared to biennial recommendations.
- Achieved same disease prevalence with a 28% cost reduction due to a flat disease-screening tradeoff curve.
- Optimal policy screens older adolescents (age 16) more frequently, including some not classified as obese.
Conclusions:
- Focusing childhood obesity screening and treatment on older adolescents may minimize adult hypertension and diabetes.
- Current data limitations and narrow medical outcomes prevent definitive recommendations on childhood obesity screening policies.
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