Abstract
Background: This study assessed whether the benefits of a 2-year longitudinal non-randomised school-based physical activity (PA) intervention programme to reduce overweight and obesity were still apparent two years after completion of the controlled intervention. Methods: The study involved 84 girls (G) and 92 boys (B) aged 10–12 years who had participated in the PA intervention in 2006–2008 as 6- to 9-year olds and were included in the intervention (I) (43 G and 45 B) and the control (C) groups (41 G and 47 B). Participants’ overweight/obesity was assessed using the percentile graph of Body Mass Index (BMI) from the World Health Organization for girls and boys aged 5–19. Logistic regression (Enter method) determined the overweight/obesity occurrence in a follow-up measurement (2010) two years after completion of the controlled intervention was used. Results: Two years after the controlled PA intervention had finished, the intervention children were less likely to be overweight/obese than the control children (2.3%GI vs. 17.1%GC, 6.7%BI vs. 23.4%BC, odds ratio: 0.25; 95% confidence interval: 0.12; 0.53; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The current study indicates favourable effects of an everyday school-based PA intervention programme on lower overweight/obesity incidence, which was maintained two years after the end of the direct involvement of the researchers.
Highlights
IntroductionEffective obesity-reduction interventions in children may need to incorporate moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA) [7] to permanently increase the level of daily PA [8]
The current study assessed the effectiveness of a longitudinal (2006–2008) non-randomised school-based physical activity (PA) intervention programme on childhood obesity in children aged 10–12 years two years after its completion (2010)
This study bridges the gap of the sparsely available longitudinal studies in Central and Eastern European nations aimed at decreasing obesity in younger school-aged children using increased levels of objectively monitored ambulatory PA in a school environment followed by an analysis of obesity prevalence after an appropriate time lag following completion of the controlled PA intervention
Summary
Effective obesity-reduction interventions in children may need to incorporate moderate-to-vigorous PA [7] to permanently increase the level of daily PA [8]. Such findings provide reasons to continue the search for effective strategies and evaluated programmes that could increase. To demonstrate any sustained effects of such longitudinal school-based interventions on obesity reduction, repeated follow-up measurements are essential after the intervention has been completed [10,11,17]. This study assessed whether the benefits of a 2-year longitudinal non-randomised school-based physical activity (PA) intervention programme to reduce overweight and obesity were still apparent two years after completion of the controlled intervention.
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