Background: Pediatric obesity treatment is based on high-intensity lifestyle counseling. However, high dropout rates and low effectiveness have been reported, even in specialized centers. Mobile health technologies have been used to overcome these limits with contrasting results. This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of a six-month intervention with a mobile app for the treatment of pediatric obesity at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Methods: Seventy-five patients were randomly assigned to standard care or standard care plus mobile app (2:1) using an online randomizer system. The mobile app delivered high-intensity lifestyle counseling for diet and physical activity. Results: At six months of follow-up, the M-App group showed significantly lower dropout rates compared to standard care (p = 0.01). The risk of dropout was significantly higher in controls compared to the intervention group (OR 3.86, 95% C.I. 1.39–10.42, p = 0.01). After one year, we observed lower albeit non-statistically significant dropout rates in the M-App compared to the standard care group (p = 0.24). No differences were observed in z-score BMI and percentage of BMI reduction between the two groups. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the mobile app might help in the clinical management of children and adolescents with obesity in terms of dropout reduction.

Childhood obesity and its related comorbidities have become major health issues over the last century. Among these comorbidities, cardiovascular diseases, especially hypertension, are the most significant. Recently, a polymorphism affecting the activity of lanosterol synthase has been associated with an increased risk of hypertension in adolescents. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of LSS rs2254524 polymorphism on blood pressure in children and adolescents with obesity. We enrolled 828 obese children aged 6–17 years. Subjects carrying the A allele showed higher rates of systolic and diastolic stage I hypertension and stage II hypertension. Carriers of the A allele showed a 2.4-fold (95% C.I. 1.5–4.7, p = 0.01) higher risk for stage II hypertension and a 1.9-fold higher risk for stage I hypertension (95% C.I. 1.4–2.6, p < 0.0001). The risk was independent of confounding factors. In conclusion, LSS rs2254524 worsens the cardiovascular health of children and adolescents with obesity, increasing their blood pressure.

Background: Pediatric obesity treatment is based on high-intensity lifestyle counseling. However, high dropout rates and low effectiveness have been reported even in specialized centers. Mobile health technologies have been used in research settings to overcome these limits with contrasting results. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a six-month intervention with a mobile app for the treatment of pediatric obesity at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to standard care or standard care plus mobile app (2:1). The mobile app delivered high-intensity lifestyle counseling for diet and physical activity. Results: Seventy-five subjects were prospectively enrolled. At six months of follow-up, the m-app group showed significantly lower dropout rates compared to standard care(p=0.01). The risk of dropout was significantly higher in controls compared to the intervention group (OR 3.86,95%C.I. 1.39-10.42,p=0.01). After one year of follow-up, we observed lower albeit non statistically significant dropout rates in the m-app compared to the standard care group(p=0.24). No differences were observed in terms of z-score BMI and percentage of BMI reduction between the two groups. Conclusion: our findings suggest that mobile app might help in the clinical management of children and adolescents with obesity in terms of dropout reduction.