Programmes that increase awareness of childhood obesity are vital to reducing the
number of obese adults and adults with cardiovascular diseases. However, the
effectiveness of these programmes must be evaluated to optimise resources for childhood
obesity awareness programmes. The present study was conducted to assess the
intermediate cost-effectiveness and provide a cost analysis of childhood obesity health
promotion programmes. This quasi-experimental study compared the intermediate
outcomes of the Sahabat Sihat and Be Best programmes over a six-month period. Data
regarding health-related quality of life (EQ-5D and EQ-VAS), the Knowledge, Attitude and
Practice questionnaire, and biomedical data were obtained from booklets prepared by
MySihat for childhood obesity-related health promotion programmes. Data regarding cost
was obtained from the expenditure records of the respective health promotion
programmes. The intergroup and intragroup comparisons between the EQ-5D and
EQ-VAS results, the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice scores, and the biomedical data
were explored using the Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests. Descriptive statistics were
utilised in the analysis of the cost results. Be Best and Sahabat Sihat were successful in
helping to prevent overweight respondents from becoming obese. The Attitude score was
higher among the Sahabat Sihat cohort, but the Practice score was higher among the Be
Best cohort. Be Best had a lower mean cost per participant and was more cost-effective
than Sahabat Sihat.