Physical Activity and Physical Competence in Overweight and Obese Children: An Intervention Study

Abstract

With the current obesity epidemic and the decline of fitness among school-aged children, the importance of obesity interventions to promote physical activity and healthy habits has become indisputable. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a school-based multicomponent intervention in increasing physical activity (PA) levels, actual physical abilities, and perceived physical abilities in clinical and nonclinical samples of overweight/obese boys and girls aged 10–12 years. The clinical intervention group (n = 35) participated in a 7-month after-school program in addition to curricular physical education lessons, while the nonclinical control group (n = 29) received usual curricular lessons. Measures included levels of PA and fitness and individual’s perceptions of physical ability. After treatment, the intervention group showed improved PA levels, perceived physical ability, and throwing and jumping task performances compared to the control group. Results indicate that a multicomponent program can improve levels of PA, fitness, and perceived competence of overweight participants. Findings highlight the importance of a comprehensive healthy lifestyle program that includes physical, psychosocial, and behavioral factors and suggest practical implications for educators, trainers, and teachers in identifying best practices targeting childhood obesity.

Interdisciplinary Educational Interventions Improve Knowledge of Eating, Nutrition, and Physical Activity of Elementary Students

“…In this respect, the school environment is ideal for carrying out preventive health education actions due to its structure, effectiveness and wide coverage of individuals [ 56 ]. In addition, studies have already shown that these interventions can positively influence fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional knowledge, energy and sugar intake [ 57 ] and physical activity [ 26 ].…”

“…In this respect, the school environment is ideal for carrying out preventive health education actions due to its structure, effectiveness and wide coverage of individuals [56]. In addition, studies have already shown that these interventions can positively influence fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional knowledge, energy and sugar intake [57] and physical activity [26]. Health education activities carried out during the intervention stage increased children's knowledge of eating, nutrition, and physical activity in the post-intervention period (p-value < 0.05).…”

“…In the case of activities related to nutrition education aimed at children, it has already been proven that theoretical activities for a prolonged period of time have positive effects on knowledge and food attitudes [ 25 ]. The use of practical activities that include exercises promotes an increase in physical activity levels [ 26 ]. However, studies that use joint techniques of nutrition and physical activity obtain even more effective results, such as a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, reduction of fried foods and fast foods consumption, and excess weight reduction [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Physical-Activity-Based Interventions Targeting Overweight and Obesity among University Students – A Systematic Review

“…Since physical inactivity is especially prevalent among university students, interventions designed to mitigate these risk factors are necessary. Interventions and reviews have already demonstrated that the above mentioned risk factors could be significantly reduced through physical activity both in children as in adults (49,50,53,52). In addition to BMI, the physical-activity-based interventions in this systematic review have shown further improvements in risk factors of physical inactivity.…”

“…There are already many approaches to increase physical activity and reduce BMI. Positive effects of such interventions have been confirmed on adults and children (47,2,(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). Long-term findings on physical activity were highlighted by Reiner et al (2) in their review, which included overweight and obesity in adolescents and adults: Over five years, weight change was examined concerning physical activity.…”