Promoting Healthier Futures: A Six-Month Program for Childhood Obesity Reduction and Lifestyle Enhancement

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a six-month family-based intervention and follow-up intervention on the body mass index and children's lifestyle in Erbil City among 5 to 19 years old. The intervention specifically targeted parents to the educational program and intended to reduce the Body Mass Index of children and change sedentary behavior. On the other hand, the educational program included minimizing the consumption of high-fat and carbohydrate-containing, increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and soft drinks. In addition, it assessed exposure to multi-screen devices and evaluated sleep quality. Methods: Weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference were measured by portable stadiometer and weight-calibrated electronic scales and BMI was calculated at the baseline and after six months of intervention. The research employed various methodologies and conducted a family-based educational program through a printed booklet. The questionnaire was used at baseline and after six months of intervention, and IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 was used for data analysis, paired sample t-test and MacNemar Chi-square were used. Results: The BMI was reduced after six months of intervention. The mean difference was 0.435, however, there were no more differences for hip and waist circumference, on the other hand, the sedentary behaviour lifestyle was changed from poor daily lifestyle practice to good practice. Conclusion: The results of this research suggest that the implementation of a complete intervention produces favourable outcomes in terms of lifestyle modifications and a decrease in BMI among children who are obese or overweight. Although, daily practice was notable changed from poor daily practice to good practice.