BackgroundChildhood obesity has been a serious public health problem. An effective school-based physical activity (PA) intervention is still lacking in China. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity intervention during 12 weeks on obesity and related health outcomes in school children.MethodsIt was a non-randomized controlled trial. Altogether 921 children aged 7 to 15 years were recruited at baseline survey. Children in the intervention group (n = 388) participated in a multi-component physical activity intervention during 12 weeks that included improvement of physical education, extracurricular physical activities for overweight/obese students, physical activities at home, and health education lectures for students and parents. Children (n = 533) in the control group participated in usual practice.ResultsParticipants had mean age of 10.4 years, mean body mass index (BMI) of 19.59 kg/m2, and 36.8 % of them were overweight or obese at baseline survey. The change in BMI in intervention group (−0.02 ± 0.06 kg/m2) was significantly different from that in control group (0.41 ± 0.08 kg/m2). The adjusted mean difference was −0.43 kg/m2 (95% CI: −0.63 to −0.23 kg/m2, P < 0.001). The effects on triceps, subscapular, abdominal skinfold thickness and fasting glucose were also significant in intervention group compared with control group (all P < 0.05). The change in duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in intervention group (8.9 ± 4.3 min/day) was significantly different from that in control group (−13.8 ± 3.3 min/day). The adjusted mean difference was 22.7 min/day (95% CI: 12.2 to 33.2 min/day, P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe school-based, multi-component physical activity intervention was effective to decreasing levels of BMI, skinfold thickness, fasting glucose and increasing duration of MVPA. These findings provided evidence for the development of effective and feasible school-based obesity interventions.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02074332 (2014-02-26)

Objective The impact of a text messaging‐assisted lifestyle weight loss intervention on weight change among overweight adults in Beijing was examined. Methods It was a 6‐month randomized two arm clinical trial. The control group received a brief advice session after randomization. The intervention group received three group sessions, five coaching calls, and a daily text message prompting participants to follow predetermined lifestyle goals. Results A total of 123 participants were randomized. At 6 months, controls gained 0.24 ± 0.28 kg (0.21% ± 0.38%) (NS) while intervention participants lost 1.6 ± 0.28 kg (2.31% ± 0.38%) (p < 0.0001). Intervention participants decreased waist circumference (WC) (−2.69 ± 0.43 cm, p < 0.0001), percent body fat (%BF) (−0.66% ± 0.19%, p = 0.0007), and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) significantly (−1.71 ± 1.12/−3.24 ± 0.87 mmHg), while the controls had no change in WC and %BF and increased SBP/DBP by 2.43 ± 1.14/1.20 ± 0.88 mmHg (between groups: p = 0.01/p = 0.0004). Conclusions This text message‐assisted lifestyle intervention was effective in reducing weight, WC, %BF, and improving BP. Coupled with the scalable feature of the intervention, this finding is intriguing in light of the potential reach of the intervention for countries like China where mobile phone penetration is high and the obesity rate continues to rise.