Effects of a 2-year healthy eating and physical activity intervention for 3–6-year-olds in communities of high and low socio-economic status: the POP (Prevention of Overweight among Pre-school and school children) project

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a school-based, 2-year, multi-component intervention on BMI, eating and physical activity behaviour in Flanders, Belgium, targeting children aged 3-6 years in communities of high and low socio-economic status (SES). Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial. Setting: Thirty-one pre-primary and primary schools in three different intervention communities and three paired-matched (on SES profile) control communities in Flanders, Belgium. Subjects: BMI Z-scores at baseline and follow-up were calculated for 1102 children. Questionnaires with sociodemographic data and FFQ were available from 694 of these 1102 children. Results: No significant effects were found on BMI Z-scores for the total sample. However, there was a significant decrease in BMI Z-score of 0?11 in the low-SES intervention community compared with the low-SES control community, where the BMI Z-score increased by 0?04 (F 5 6?26, P 5 0?01). No significant intervention effects could be found for eating behaviour, physical activity or screen-time. There were no significant interaction effects of age and gender of the children on the outcome variables. Conclusions: Although no significant effects were found for BMI Z-scores in the total sample, this intervention had a promising effect in the low-SES community of reducing excess weight gain among young children.

Obesity prevention interventions in early childhood education and care settings with parental involvement: a systematic review

“…A table was also created to show the main outcome variables in each study (see Table 4). Fifteen studies were included from a number of high-and middle-income countries around the world including Australia (de Zask, Adams, Brooks, & Hughes, 2012), Switzerland (Puder et al, 2011), USA (Dennison, Russo, Burdick, & Jenkins, 2004;Fitzgibbon et al, 2005Fitzgibbon et al, , 2006Natale, Lopez-Mitnik, Uhlhorn, Asfour, & Messiah, 2014;Story et al, 2012;Yin et al, 2012), Belgium (De Coen et al, 2012), Germany (Bayer et al, 2009;Bock, Fischer, Hoffmann, & Renz-Polster, 2010), China (Hu et al, 2010), Columbia (Cespedes et al, 2013) and Scotland (Reilly et al, 2006). Two studies have multiple papers explaining the study Notes: 1, yes; 0, no; 0*, unable to determine.…”

“…One study was omitted due to its use of the same data from another study that is included (Burgi et al, 2012). Most studies were RCTs (Dennison et al, 2004;Fitzgibbon et al, 2005;Natale et al, 2014), several were cluster or group RCT (Fitzgibbon et al, 2006;Story et al, 2012) (Bayer et al, 2009;Bock et al, 2010;Cespedes et al, 2013;De Coen et al, 2012), with two studies defining their design as single blinded (Puder et al, 2011;Reilly et al, 2006). Three studies utilised a quasi-experimental design Yin et al, 2012;Zask et al, 2012).…”

Current Trends in Childhood Obesity Research

“…Eight publications reported primary outcomes, of which all indicated significantly positive effects on physical activity and/or diet, but findings regarding BMI were mixed: two found decreases [37,38], two found no impact [39,40], and the remaining did not report anthropometric outcomes [41][42][43][44]. For example, the Romp & Chomp intervention in Australia included health education combined with changes to family day care environments and found a decrease in screen time and increase in active play but did not report anthropometric outcomes [41].…”

Development and test–retest reliability of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire for primary-school children

“…To improve children's and adolescents' food habits, local, national and international (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) interventions are being developed. One of these local interventions in Belgium-Flanders is an Internet intervention targeting primary-school children.…”