Impact of a school-based intervention on nutritional education and physical activity in primary public schools in Chile (KIND) programme study protocol: cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundChile has suffered a fast increase in childhood obesity in the last 10 years. As a result, several school programmes have been implemented, however the effectiveness of these needs to be evaluated to identify and prioritize strategies to curve this trend.MethodsCluster randomized controlled trial. Twelve primary public schools chosen at random over three regions of the country will take part in this study. The sample size consisted of a total of 1,655 children. For each region one school will be selected for each of the three nutritional intervention modes and one school will be selected as the control group. The intervention modes consist of the following:Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN);Optimized physical activity (AFSO);Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN) + optimized physical activity (AFSO);Control group. The effectiveness of each intervention will be evaluated by determining the nutritional condition of each child by measuring percentage of body fat, BMI and the z-score of the BMI. This study will also identify the eating behaviours, nutritional knowledge and fitness of each child, along with the effective time of moderate activity during physical education classes.DiscussionA protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of a school based intervention to control and/or reduce the rates of childhood obesity for children between 6 and 10 years of age was developed. The protocol was developed in line with the Declaration of Helsinski, the Nüremberg Code and the University of Chile Guidelines for ethical committees, and was approved by the INTA, Universidad de Chile ethical committee on Wednesday 12 March 2014.There is consensus among researchers and health and education personnel that schools are a favourable environment for actions to prevent and/or control childhood obesity. However a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to date has led some to question the wisdom of allocating resources to programmes. This is the first study of this kind in Chile and could be an important first step to provide guidance to political authorities in relation to which food and nutrition strategies to prioritize to curve this alarming trend.Trial registration ISRCTN32136790, registered retrospectively on 05 September 2014.

The effect of comprehensive intervention for childhood obesity on dietary diversity among younger children: Evidence from a school-based randomized controlled trial in China

“…The school-based nutrition education has more extrusive advantages for students than community-based nutrition education, such as offering interacting with educators delivering the intervention and positive school infrastructure and environment. The frequent interactions of policies, curricula and personnel also increases the familiarity with and use of nutrition knowledge among students [ 49 – 51 ]. To promote nutrition education, some developed countries have developed strategies for school-based nutrition education.…”

“…knowledge among students [49][50][51]. To promote nutrition education, some developed countries have developed strategies for school-based nutrition education.…”

A mejor condición física mejores resultados de una ley contra la obesidad (Better fitness, better results of a law against obesity)

“…No obstante, urge la necesidad de estudiar los factores que favorezcan y aseguren -de alguna manera-el éxito de este tipo de estrategias. Al respecto Bustos, Olivares, Leyton, Cano, & Albala (2016) destacan que la actividad física en conjunto con intervenciones nutricionales, podrían mejorar los parámetros de obesidad infantil, pero que debe ser mejorada la efectividad de estas intervenciones. De esta forma, es plausible pensar -de acuerdo a nuestros resultados-que los escolares con un alto nivel de CF podrían ser quienes se vean más favorecidos con la implementación de estrategias que pretendan fomentar estilos de vida saludable y mejorar diversos parámetros vinculados a la composición corporal.…”

Elevado consumo de azúcares y grasas en niños de edad preescolar de Panamá: estudio transversal

“…En el presente trabajo, el consumo semanal de azúcar fue mayor con respecto al requerimiento de cada grupo 12 , en más de la mitad de la muestra en comparación con el consumo de grasas. Junto con la reducción en el consumo de azúcares y grasas excesivos en las escuelas, se hace necesario promover la realización de actividad física regularmente como parte de los estilos de vida saludables lo cual ha sido reportado como beneficioso para el control del peso en escolares [34][35][36] .…”