Background: The program The combined DAK therapy for obesity in children and adolescents’ funded and conducted by the Deutsche Angestellten-Krankenkasse (DAK), a German health insurance company, commenced in 2003. The treatment program lasts for 1 year and comprises of 2 phases: an initial inpatient therapy for 6 weeks followed by a home-based outpatient treatment of the overweight children, adolescents, and their families for 10.5 months. The therapy complies with the guidelines of the German Working Group of Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence (AGA). Participants and Methods: In this study, 162 obese children and adolescents were compared with a control group of 75 obese subjects recruited from the waiting list for the program. The aim was to analyze whether the changes in weight, eating behavior, and physical fitness during the therapy period are a result of the therapy itself or whether they are attributable to external effects. Body weight, height, and physical fitness were assessed through direct measurements while behavior and quality of life were assessed using self-report questionnaires. The development of body weight was evaluated using the BMI-SDS which is a measure of how many standard deviations an individual BMI is above or below the age- and gender-specific mean. Results: Within the observation period the BMISDS decreased significantly by 0.36 ± 0.34 in the intervention group, whereas no changes of BMI-SDS were observed in the control group (0.04 ± 0.17). The study revealed significant, positive treatment effects in exploratory analyses with regard to weight loss, behavior changes, physical fitness, and development of quality of life as a result of the therapy. These effects were not seen in the control group. Conclusion: We conclude that these positive developments are a result of the treatment program.
This article builds on the dynamic capability view of the firm in order to examine the role of marketing innovation in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and competitive marketing advantage. The mixed-methodology approach was used and data were collected from 70 SMEs that are owned or managed by a female in Egypt. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research framework. The results reveal that both pricing and promotional innovation have a strong and positive association with competitive marketing advantage. The study is cross-sectional in nature. The results may have been different if the study had focused on specific industries. Therefore, extrapolations without proper caution are discouraged. The study provides female entrepreneurs with useful information on how to create and sustain marketing competitive advantage when resources are limited. In particular, it helps them to identify situations in which marketing innovation practices are potentially more useful.The results contribute to the understanding of the drivers of competitive marketing advantage of SMEs owned by female entrepreneurs in the context of an emerging market.
Aim. “The combined DAK therapy for obesity in children and adolescents” combines a 6-week inpatient with a 10.5-month outpatient treatment. The aim of the study is to evaluate whether the therapeutic achievements are maintained two and four years after intervention. Method. All subjects who had participated in the 12-month program in 2004/2005 were included in the follow-up study. Body weight, height, and physical fitness were assessed through direct measurements, behaviour, and quality of life by self-report questionnaires. Statistical analysis is based on an intention-to-treat analysis. Results. The response rate after three years was 63.4% and 42.2% after five years. Within three years, participants reduced their BMI-SDS significantly by 0.20 (SD 0.49) and by 0.15 (SD 0.51) within five years. Significant positive changes could be observed with respect to the participants eating behaviour. Similarly, the food intake, particularly the consumption of calorie-reduced beverages, increased significantly while that of nonrecommended foods decreased. Improvement was also seen in the subjective quality of life as well as several aspects of self-perception. Conclusion. Compared to baseline data, significant reduction of BMI-SDS and positive changes of health-related behaviours could be observed even three and five years after the start of the initial program.
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