OBJECTIVE:To assess the impact of a 6 months nutrition education and physical activity intervention on primary school children through changes in adiposity and physical fitness. DESIGN: Longitudinal school-based controlled evaluation study. SUBJECTS: Children from 1st to 8th grade, 2141 in intervention and 945 in control schools. INTERVENTION: Nutrition education for children and parents, 'healthier' kiosks, 90 min of additional physical activity (PA) weekly, behavioral PA program and active recess. MEASUREMENTS: Adiposity indices (BMI, BMI Z-score, triceps skinfold thickness (TSF), waist circumference and physical fitness (20 m shuttle run test and lower back flexibility). RESULTS: Positive effect on adiposity indices (except TSF) was observed in boys (Po0.001 for BMI Z), while both physical fitness parameters increased significantly in both boys (Po0.001 for each test) and girls (Po0.0001 for each test). A differential effect in BMI Z was observed according to baseline nutritional status. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention showed a robust effect on physical fitness in both genders and decreased adiposity only in boys.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were already reporting a low quality of life (QoL) perception, with a significant impact on mental and physical health due to various stress factors associated with work overload. The objective of this study was to evaluate the QoL impact on Chilean teachers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis was performed following a longitudinal design on a sample of 63 Chilean teachers in pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic timeframes. QoL perception, along with teachers’ sociodemographic data, was evaluated via the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Sociodemographic variables presented no significant variations in pre-pandemic and pandemic comparisons. QoL, however, showed a significant decrease during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic measurement (p < 0.01). In each gender, there were significant differences between pre-pandemic and pandemic timeframes, with a greater impact among women in the mental and physical component summary variables and seven of the eight QoL scales (p < 0.01). Between age categories, people under 45 presented significant differences (p < 0.05) between pre-pandemic and pandemic timeframes in all summary dimensions and measurements. In conclusion, Chilean teachers’ QoL perception has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings could be related to work overload due to teleworking or feelings of uncertainty, loneliness, and fear that the pandemic and its associated confinements will worsen.

Objective: Obesity prevalence among Chilean children is 19?4 %. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a school-based obesity prevention programme. Design: Non-randomized controlled study. The intervention included activities in nutrition and physical activity, fully applied the first year and partially in the second one. Primary outcomes were BMI Z-score (BMIZ) and obesity prevalence; secondary outcomes were waist circumference and triceps skinfold thickness. Time effects were assessed by changes in BMI-related variables by gender and period (ANOVA and Tukey test), while intervention effects were determined by comparing changes in (i) obesity prevalence by gender and period (PROC GENMOD) and (ii) BMIZ according gender, age and period (PROC MIXED). Setting: Primary schools in the Chilean cities of Casablanca (intervention group) and Quillota (control group). Subjects: One thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine children from three schools (intervention group) and 671 from one school (control group). Results: Over the two years, obesity prevalence and BMIZ declined significantly in the intervention group; from 17?0 % to 12?3 % and 14?1 % to 10?3 % in boys and girls, respectively, and from 0?62 to 0?53 and 0?64 to 0?58, respectively. In the control group, obesity remained stable at about 21 % and 15 %, while BMIZ increased significantly in the second year. BMIZ declined in both genders and all age categories in the intervention group during the first year (significant only in younger boys). No changes occurred during the summer, while during the second year, BMIZ increased in boys and girls from both groups (significant only in the younger control boys). Obesity declined significantly only in boys during the first year. Conclusion: Effectiveness was greater in the first school year and more evident in younger boys. KeywordsPrevention School-based Childhood obesity ChileIn Chile, the prevalence of obesity has risen sharply since the early 1980s (1) and especially in young children, whose obesity rates have increased from 7?0 % in 1987 to 18?5 % in 2005 (2) . This can be attributed to multiple factors linked to the nutrition transition which affect both energy intake and physical activity (3,4) . During the 1980s and 1990s, income more than doubled and poverty dropped by 50 %. Mean energy intake increased, especially among the urban poor. On the energy output side, sedentarism linked to urbanization increased significantly; presently, 87 % of the population live in urban areas and about 90 % are classified as sedentary. The Ministry of Health acknowledged in 1997 the need to address obesity prevention by establishing a national health promotion programme (Vida Chile) with specific goals at each stage of the life course. For children, the goals are to reduce obesity at school entry (6 years of age), using WHO criteria (5) , from 16 % observed in the 2000 baseline to 12 % by the year 2010; and to reduce sedentary behaviour in those 15 years of age and older from 91 % to 84 % (6) .To achieve thes...

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-month multicomponent obesity prevention intervention. Setting. 9 elementary schools in Santiago, Chile. Subjects. 6–8 y old low-income children (N = 1474). Design. Randomized controlled study; 5 intervention/4 control schools. We trained teachers to deliver nutrition contents and improve the quality of PE classes. We determined % healthy snacks brought from home, children's nutrition knowledge, nutritional status, duration of PE classes, and % time in moderate/vigorous activity (MVA). Effectiveness was determined by comparing Δ BMI Z between intervention and control children using PROCMIXED. Results. % obesity increased in boys from both types of schools and in girls from control schools, while decreasing in girls from intervention schools (all nonsignificant). % class time in MVA declined (24.5–16.2) while remaining unchanged (24.8–23.7%) in classes conducted by untrained and trained teachers, respectively. In boys, BMI Z declined (1.33–1.24) and increased (1.22–1.35) in intervention and control schools, respectively. In girls, BMI Z remained unchanged in intervention schools, while increasing significantly in control schools (0.91–1.06, P = 0.024). Interaction group ∗ time was significant for boys (P < 0.0001) and girls (P = 0.004). Conclusions. This intervention was effective in controlling obesity, but not preventing it. Even though impact was small, results showed that when no intervention is implemented, obesity increases.

AimThis study was aimed to set reference values of hand-grip strength by age and sex and validate cut points for risk of functional limitation and mortality in older Chileans.MethodsThis was a pooled analysis of four studies including 6,426 people ≥60 years of nondependent community-dwelling Chileans. After exclusion criteria, the final sample included 5,250 subjects, from whom 2,193 were followed to study all-cause mortality associated with low hand-grip strength. Face-to-face interviews registering sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported chronic diseases, and functional limitations were conducted. Anthropometric measurements and observed mobility were performed by trained professionals. Hand-grip strength was measured with a hand dynamometer T-18 (Country Technology, Inc.) before 2008 or with JAMAR brand from 2008 onwards. Percentiles were calculated through descriptive analysis and quantile regression models for specific groups of age and sex. Adjusted Cox regression hazard models for mortality risk according to low dynamometry condition and covariates were developed.ResultsWe deliver reference values of hand-grip strength for older Chileans proposing the 25th percentile as the cut-off point for low dynamometry risk: men ≤27 kg, women ≤15 kg. Low hand-grip strength was associated with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living limitations (p=0.001), and altered physical performance evaluated through the Timed Up and Go test (p=0.0001), grasping (p=0.001), bending (p<0.0001), and lifting (p<0.0001). After Cox proportional hazard regression models were assessed with a median follow-up of 9.2 years, the adjusted risk of all-cause mortality associated with a hand-grip strength lower than the 25th percentile in older Chileans showed a hazard ratio of 1.39 (95% confidence interval: 1.13–1.71).ConclusionThe cut-off points of dynamometry validated for the older Chileans allow the incorporation in the geriatric evaluation in primary health care of an easy-to-use, inexpensive indicator to identify older adults at risk of sarcopenia, frailty, and dismobility. In addition this also helps to optimize the evaluation of intervention strategies focused on the maintenance of functionality.