Within Combined Lifestyle Interventions (CLIs), multidisciplinary teams of professionals support children and their families in adopting and maintaining a healthier lifestyle. This dissertation shows that CLIs for children with overweight and obesity demonstrate promising effects in Dutch real-world practice, while also facing substantial implementation challenges. Implementation is complex and context-dependent and is influenced by factors including intervention content, team composition, collaboration between professionals, coordination, and professional competencies. Strengthening the organizational embedding of CLIs within integrated care structures, combined with coordinated monitoring and evaluation and sustained investment in professional expertise and capacity, is therefore essential to improve the sustainability and impact of CLIs.
Taken together, these findings provide practical insights into how CLIs can be better organized, implemented, evaluated, and sustainably embedded in everyday practice.
About the PhD candidate
Jenneke Saat is a lecturer-researcher at HAN University of Applied Sciences. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and a Master’s degree in Health Sciences. She has conducted research at Radboudumc on community-based combined lifestyle interventions for children with overweight and obesity. Alongside her PhD research, she has combined research with teaching and continues to guide future health professionals.