Economic evaluation of "healthy beginnings" an early childhood intervention to prevent obesity

Alison Hayes, Tom Lung, Li Ming Wen, Louise Baur, Chris Rissel, Kirsten Howard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)
21 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objective To determine the costs and cost-effectiveness of an early childhood home visiting program delivered to families in socio-economically disadvantaged areas of Sydney, Australia during 2007-2010. Methods Economic evaluation of a randomized controlled trial, the healthy beginnings (HB) trial, from the perspective of the health funder. Intervention resources were determined from local health district records in 2012 $AUD. Health-care resource utilization was determined through patient-level data linkage. Results The cost of HB intervention in the clinical trial over 2 years was $1309 per child (2012 $AUD). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $4230 per unit BMI avoided and $631 per 0.1 reduction in BMI z-score. It was estimated that the program could be delivered in practice for $709 per child; with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of $2697 per unit BMI avoided and $376 per 0.1 reduction in BMI z-score. Conclusions We present the first economic evaluation of an effective obesity prevention initiative in early childhood. HB is a moderately priced intervention with demonstrated effectiveness that offers similar or better value for money than existing obesity prevention or treatment interventions targeted at older children.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1709-1715
Number of pages7
JournalObesity
Volume22
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Childhood obesity prevention
  • Healthy Beginnings Trial
  • socio-economic disadvantage

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