Abstract
BackgroundChildhood obesity has been a serious public health problem. An effective school-based physical activity (PA) intervention is still lacking in China. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity intervention during 12 weeks on obesity and related health outcomes in school children.MethodsIt was a non-randomized controlled trial. Altogether 921 children aged 7 to 15 years were recruited at baseline survey. Children in the intervention group (n = 388) participated in a multi-component physical activity intervention during 12 weeks that included improvement of physical education, extracurricular physical activities for overweight/obese students, physical activities at home, and health education lectures for students and parents. Children (n = 533) in the control group participated in usual practice.ResultsParticipants had mean age of 10.4 years, mean body mass index (BMI) of 19.59 kg/m2, and 36.8 % of them were overweight or obese at baseline survey. The change in BMI in intervention group (−0.02 ± 0.06 kg/m2) was significantly different from that in control group (0.41 ± 0.08 kg/m2). The adjusted mean difference was −0.43 kg/m2 (95% CI: −0.63 to −0.23 kg/m2, P < 0.001). The effects on triceps, subscapular, abdominal skinfold thickness and fasting glucose were also significant in intervention group compared with control group (all P < 0.05). The change in duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in intervention group (8.9 ± 4.3 min/day) was significantly different from that in control group (−13.8 ± 3.3 min/day). The adjusted mean difference was 22.7 min/day (95% CI: 12.2 to 33.2 min/day, P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe school-based, multi-component physical activity intervention was effective to decreasing levels of BMI, skinfold thickness, fasting glucose and increasing duration of MVPA. These findings provided evidence for the development of effective and feasible school-based obesity interventions.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02074332 (2014-02-26)
Highlights
Childhood obesity has been a serious public health problem
In China, the 2010 National Physical Fitness and Health Surveillance reported that a total of 22.7% students aged 9–18 were physically active doing any kind of physical activity (PA) for a total of 60 minutes or more per day [18]
No significant difference of sex ratio and duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were observed between two groups
Summary
Childhood obesity has been a serious public health problem. An effective school-based physical activity (PA) intervention is still lacking in China. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity intervention during 12 weeks on obesity and related health outcomes in school children. PA accounts for 25%-35% of total energy expenditure in children [13] and has been regarded as a key component in obesity prevention [14]. In China, the 2010 National Physical Fitness and Health Surveillance reported that a total of 22.7% students aged 9–18 were physically active doing any kind of PA for a total of 60 minutes or more per day [18]. It is of vital importance to explore effective and feasible interventional strategies to promote childhood PA, which is helpful for obesity prevention and control
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