Effect of a school-based intervention in eating habits among school children: quasi experimental study, Tunisia

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec id="j_ijamh-2018-0206_abs_001_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c12b1Aa"><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>The present study aimed to assess whether six months intervention program with parents' implication in primary schools is able to decrease morning snack consumption among children aged 6–12 years.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="j_ijamh-2018-0206_abs_002_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c12b2Aa"><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We carried out a quasi-experimental study with two groups of schoolchildren in the region of Sousse (Tunisia) from 2015 to 2016. One primary school in each group was selected. In each school, we randomly selected a sample size of schoolchildren and their parents. The intervention was based on healthy eating habits promotion.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="j_ijamh-2018-0206_abs_003_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c12b3Aa"><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>The consumption of morning snacks the day before data collection, reported by children, decreased significantly in post-intervention in both intervention and control groups<jats:bold>.</jats:bold> The decrease of consumption of morning snacks was significantly higher in intervention group (p=0.009). According to parents, the proportion of children who had the habit of eating morning snack decreased significantly from pre to post-intervention in intervention group (p&lt;0.001).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="j_ijamh-2018-0206_abs_004_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c12b4Aa"><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>A healthy environment should be created through effective school policies to prevent obesity.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Scoping Review of School-Based Obesity Interventions among Children and Adolescents in Arabic Speaking Countries

“…Characteristics of included studies are described in detail in Table 2. Of the 16 studies, 10 included quasi-experimental study designs (Awad Elkarim Elfaki et al, 2020;Ben Cheikh et al, 2020;Dendana et al, 2017;Ghammam et al, 2017;Harrabi et al, 2010;Kebaili et al, 2014;Jihen Maatoug et al, 2015a;Jihene Maatoug et al, 2015b;J. M. Maatoug, Harrabi, Delpierre, Gaha, & Ghannem, 2013;Zammit et al, 2016) and the remainder reported randomised controlled trials (Allafi, 2020;El Ansari, El Ashker, & Moseley, 2010;Habib-Mourad et al, 2020;Habib-Mourad et al, 2014;Kutbi, Al-Jasir, Khouja, & Aljefri, 2019).…”

“…A further two of the 16 articles reported on the pilot and later refinement of the Health-E-PALS program in Lebanon (Habib-Mourad et al, 2020;Habib-Mourad et al, 2014). The remaining six articles reported on another six separate interventions: One in Sousse Tunisia with primary school aged children (Ben Cheikh et al, 2020), two from Saudi Arabia (Awad Elkarim Elfaki et al, 2020;Kutbi et al, 2019) and one each from Egypt (El Ansari et al, 2010), Jordan (Ayman Bani Salameh et al, 2017), and Kuwait (Allafi, 2020).…”

“…Participants were mostly from middle, intermediate or secondary schools with one study involving participants from a primary school (Ben Cheikh et al, 2020). The age of participants ranged from six (Ben Cheikh et al, 2020) to 18 years .…”

“…Participants were mostly from middle, intermediate or secondary schools with one study involving participants from a primary school (Ben Cheikh et al, 2020). The age of participants ranged from six (Ben Cheikh et al, 2020) to 18 years . Most of the studies included both male and female participants but one study involved only males (Kutbi et al, 2019) and another only females (Awad Elkarim Elfaki et al, 2020).…”

“…Schools were identified as the ideal setting for health promotion because health and education are closely linked and children spend a significant amount of time in school (Rebecca Langford et al, 2015). Though overweight and obesity interventions in schools are challenging, the collaborative assistance of parents and teachers is likely to enhance community knowledge, encouraging health support and thus enhancing general family quality of life (Allafi, 2020;Ben Cheikh et al, 2020;Dendana et al, 2017;Habib-Mourad et al, 2014). Therefore, exploring the effectiveness of interventions is a key action that can assist with health planning and prevention of childhood overweight and obesity in the future.…”