Childhood obesity: time for action, not complacency

Frühbeck, Gema

doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7231.328

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The intervention was designed for one academic year only, recognising funding limitations. The intervention might have been strengthened if the families were targeted more directly,24 while still maintaining the focus on the school community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Randomised controlled trial of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity

Sahota

Rudolf

Dixey

et al. 2001

BMJ

297

286

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Objective To assess if a school based intervention was effective in reducing risk factors for obesity. Design Group randomised controlled trial. Setting 10 primary schools in Leeds. Participants 634 children aged 7-11 years. Intervention Teacher training, modification of school meals, and the development of school action plans targeting the curriculum, physical education, tuck shops, and playground activities. Main outcome measures Body mass index, diet, physical activity, and psychological state. Results Vegetable consumption by 24 hour recall was higher in children in the intervention group than the control group (weighted mean difference 0.3 portions/day, 95% confidence interval 0.2 to 0.4), representing a difference equivalent to 50% of baseline consumption. Fruit consumption was lower in obese children in the intervention group ( − 1.0, − 1.8 to − 0.2) than those in the control group. The three day diary showed higher consumption of high sugar foods (0.8, 0.1 to 1.6)) among overweight children in the intervention group than the control group. Sedentary behaviour was higher in overweight children in the intervention group (0.3, 0.0 to 0.7). Global self worth was higher in obese children in the intervention group (0.3, 0.3 to 0.6). There was no difference in body mass index, other psychological measures, or dieting behaviour between the groups. Focus groups indicated higher levels of self reported behaviour change, understanding, and knowledge among children who had received the intervention. Conclusion Although it was successful in producing changes at school level, the programme had little effect on children's behaviour other than a modest increase in consumption of vegetables.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Randomised controlled trial of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity

Sahota

Rudolf

Dixey

et al. 2001

BMJ

297

286

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Must and Strauss reviewed the risks and consequences of obesity in childhood and adolescence and concluded that an aggressive approach to prevention and treatment was required 20. Early intervention, including increased activity and reduction in high fat, high calorie foods, is important,5 and some success has been shown in such a programme 21 – 23. Power et al have emphasised the importance of population based intervention to achieve this 24.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of overweight and obese children between 1989 and 1998: population based series of cross sectional studies

Bundred

2001

BMJ

336

199

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Objective To determine trends in weight, height, and body mass index in children between 1989 and 1998. Design Retrospective series of cross sectional studies of routinely collected data. Setting Primary care in the Wirral Health Authority. Participants 35 662 infants aged 1-3 months (representing 88% of live births) and 28 768 children aged 2.9-4.0 years. 21 582 infants and children (25.1%) were excluded because of missing or inaccurate data. Main outcome measures Weight, height, sex, and age routinely recorded by health visitors. Height, weight, and body mass index standardised for age and sex. SD score > 1.04 for body mass index ( > 85th centile) was defined as overweight and > 1.64 ( > 95th centile) as obese. Body mass index was not calculated in infants as it is difficult to interpret. Results From 1989 to 1998 there was a highly significant increasing trend in the proportion of overweight children (14.7% to 23.6%; P < 0.001) and obese children (5.4% to 9.2%; P < 0.001). There was also a highly significant increasing trend in the mean SD score for weight (0.05 to 0.29; P < 0.001) and body mass index ( − 0.15 to 0.31; P < 0.001) but not height. Infants showed a small but significantly increasing trend in mean SD score for weight ( − 0.17 to − 0.05; P = 0.005). Conclusions From 1989 to 1998 there was a highly significant increase in weight and body mass index in children under 4 years of age. Routinely collected data are valuable in identifying anthropometric trends in populations.

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“…Preventive public health strategies that included populations as a whole are necessary to combat the problem. 26 Family-based approaches are best suited where the problem of overweight or obesity has already been recognised, 27 and education programmes and schools provide the ideal environment for prevention strategies. 28 James et al 17 have demonstrated that it is possible to prevent further increases in childhood obesity through a specific health education targeting a reduction in the consumption of carbonated drinks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%