Researchers from Colombia and Peru will be honored for work on noncommunicable diseases at September 2013 Cochrane Colloquium
Washington, D.C., 22 July 2013 (PAHO/WHO) - Researchers from Colombia and Peru have been selected as winners of the 2013 PAHO-Ibero-American Cochrane Network Award, whose theme was "Prevention of chronic noncommunicable diseases through healthy lifestyles."
The competition had entries in two categories: systematic reviews and protocols for reviews. The winner in the "best systematic review" category was "Efficacy of the prescription of physical activity in obese child population," by Edgar Hernández, María Victoria Valero-Bernal and Erika Mancera, of the National University in Colombia . The authors focused on randomized controlled trials that studied the effects of physical activity on overweight and obese children. For their review, they identified 204 trials, 19 of which met the inclusion criteria. The authors concluded that comprehensive programs that include exercise and diet were clinically more effective at reducing overweight and obesity in children when combined.
The winner in the "best protocol" category was "Multiple interventions in lifestyles for the prevention of obesity in children and adolescents in low and middle income countries," developed by Yamilée Hurtado , Marianela Oré , and Gisely Hijar while they were pursuing their master's degrees at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru. Their protocol is for a review that would examine the effects of educational and psycho-educational interventions, physical activity, low-carbohydrate diets, diets rich in vegetables and fruits, and different combinations of the above for preventing obesity in children and teens.
The 2013 awards will be presented during the Cochrane Colloquium, to be held in Quebec, Canada, in September 2013. The prize for the systematic reviews category includes travel expenses and the colloquium registration fee for a member of the winning team.
The selection committee for this year's competition was made up of leading public health experts, including: Dr. Cristina Rabadán, Acting Director of the of the Office Global Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, U.S. National Institutes of Health; Dr. Adrián Hernández and Dr. Rafael Bolaños, of the Evidence Generation Unit (UNAGESP) of Peru's National Institute of Health; Dr. Kira Fortune, of PAHO's Sustainable Development and Health Equity Area; and Silvana Luciani, of PAHO's Non-communicable Diseases and Disability Area.
PAHO, in collaboration with the Ibero-American Cochrane Network, created this award in 2010 in hopes of inspiring Cochrane Collaboration authors and other young investigators to address key research questions in public health and health systems of the Americas. The award should motivate Cochrane investigators and others to develop relevant and methodologically robust protocols and systematic reviews that contribute useful solutions to priority subjects for governments of the Americas. PAHO/WHO and the Cochrane Collaboration share the values and objectives of the PAHO Research for Health policy, which seeks to contribute to the advancement of the 2008-2017 Health Agenda for the Americas as agreed upon by governments of the Americas in 2007.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) supports and promotes development and use of research for the improvement of the lives and the well-being of the Latin American population, as reflected in the PAHO Policy on Research for Health.
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of more than 28,000 dedicated people from over 100 countries that work together to help healthcare practitioners, policymakers, patients, their advocates and caregivers, make well-informed decisions about health care by preparing, updating, and promoting the accessibility of Cochrane Reviews.
For more information on the Award contact: rp@paho.org.
