School‐based individualised lifestyle intervention decreases obesity and the metabolic syndrome in Mexican children

Abstract

Background: Currently, there is limited evidence about effective strategies to manage childhood obesity and the metabolic syndrome in school settings. The present study aims to analyse changes in the prevalence of being overweight/obese and having the metabolic syndrome in relation to a 10-month lifestyle intervention based on individualised face-to-face sessions and parental education in school settings. Methods: The study sample comprised a cross-sectional sample of 96 overweight/obese Mexican children aged 6-12 years from eight schools. Clinical, anthropometric measurements and 24-h recalls were obtained during each of 13 visits. Laboratory measurements were determined at the beginning and end. The energy-reduced diet was based on dietary recommended intakes. Individualised structured daily meals and a physical activity plan, tailored-made for each child, were provided every 3 weeks at the schools. Parental attendance was required. Student′s t-test, McNemar and ShapiroWilk tests and simple linear regression were used for the statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome fell significantly from 44% to 16% (P < 0.01), high blood pressure fell from 19% to 0%, hypertrigliceridaemia fell from 64% to 35%, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol 40 fell from 60% to 41%, hyperglycaemia fell from 1% to 0%, and waist circumference ! 90th percentile fell from 72% to 57%. There was a 2.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) = À4.10 to À1.58; P < 0.01] significant decrease in body mass index percentile and in body-fat percentage (95% CI = À3.31 to À1.55; P < 0.01). Of the overweight children, 32% achieved normal-weight, whereas 24% of the obese ones converted to overweight and 1% reached normal-weight. Physical activity increased 16 min day -1 (P = 0.02) and

Recording daily routines with guidance on healthy lifestyle to improve health parameters in children and their families

“…Elizondo-Montemayor et al 30 , in a study with 10 months of dietary and physical activity intervention in 96 overweight/ obese Mexican children aged 6-12 years, reported significant decreases in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors, including blood pressure, BMI percentile, and body fat percentage. It is important to underline that the benefits of physical activity for children are not only long-term, but also acute 31 .…”

Association of Irisin Plasma Levels with Anthropometric Parameters in Children with Underweight, Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obesity

“…Waist circumference (WC) was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm at the level of the umbilicus with the use of a flexible fiberglass tape while the subjects were standing, after gently exhaling, and with no clothing on the area. Tricipital skinfold (TSF) was measured with a Lange skinfold caliper [16], whereas mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) (cm) was measured with a flexible fiberglass tape around the mid-upper arm at the midpoint between the acromion and the olecranon. All measurements were performed by three trained registered dietitians (RDs) to control interobserver variability.…”

“…Information on physical activity was taken from a previously validated questionnaire administered to each child and parent/caregiver at the initial face-to-face interview with the RDs; this process provided information on the children's hours per day and days per week of regular exercise [16]. As the purpose was to obtain information on regular physical activity, the children and/or their guardians were asked, during the past six months, (1) whether the children exercised; (2) if they did, what the type of exercise they engaged in was, for example, aerobic (football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, dancing, running, walking, or cycling) or anaerobic (sprinting, mountain climbing, rope-jumping, hill climbing, isometrics, or any rapid burst of hard exercise); (3) what the number of days that they engaged in physical activity per week was; and (4) what the number of hours that they exercised per day was.…”

Efecto De Un Programa De Actividad Física De Moderada a Vigorosa De Diez Meses Sobre El Vo2máx Y El Porcentaje De Grasa Corporal en Niños Con Sobrepeso Y Obesidad

“…De igual manera, en otro estudio se evaluó el impacto de una intervención de 18 meses para la prevención de obesidad en escolares de 4 o y 5 o grado basada en el modelo ecológico en conductas saludables; sin embargo, a pesar del tiempo de intervención, la prevalencia de obesidad no se modificó (Safdie et al, 2013). Estos resultados parcialmente contradicen a las investigaciones donde se encontró disminución significativa en el IMC al intervenir niños mexicanos de 6 a 10 meses (Bacardi-Gascon et al, 2012;Elizondo-Montemayor et al, 2013). Cabe destacar que los estudios anteriores enfatizaron su intervención en la alimentación, la cual proporciona la mayor influencia en los cambios de porcentaje de grasa corporal (Gonzalez et al, 2012).…”