Efficacy and Safety of Globin Digest as a Functional Beverage for the Treatment of Childhood Obesity

Abstract

<b>Background and aims</b>: Childhood obesity is a serious health concern in many countries in the world. In addition to lifestyle education, functional foods or beverages may be useful for preventing and treating obesity. Here we evaluated the effectiveness and safety of a globin digest (GD) functional beverage for the treatment of childhood obesity. <b>Methods</b>: Twenty-eight obese Japanese children (median age, 12.4 years; range, 6.0–17.3 years; 18 males) were randomly assigned to receive orally either placebo beverage (n = 14) or GD beverage containing 6 mg of the amino acid residue Val-Val-Tyr-Pro (n = 14) within 1 h of eating dinner daily for 3 months. Changes in body weight, body mass index percentile, and percentage overweight were based on Japanese age-, sex-, and height-specific body-weight standards. The prevalence of adverse events was also evaluated. <b>Results</b>: The changes in body weight, body mass index percentile, or percentage overweight were not significantly different between the two groups at 3 months or at 6 months after the start of GD intake. No adverse events were reported in any of the subjects. <b>Conclusions</b>: Although the effectiveness of GD beverages for the treatment of childhood obesity needs further evaluation, the GD beverage used in the present study was safe and had good compliance in obese Japanese children.