Effectiveness of a randomized school-based intervention involving families and teachers to prevent excessive weight gain among adolescents in Brazil

Diana B Cunha, Bárbara da S N de Souza, Rosangela A Pereira, Rosely Sichieri, Diana B Cunha, Bárbara da S N de Souza, Rosangela A Pereira, Rosely Sichieri

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based intervention involving the families and teachers that aimed to promote healthy eating habits in adolescents; the ultimate aim of the intervention was to reduce the increase in body mass index (BMI) of the students.

Design: Paired cluster randomized school-based trial conducted with a sample of fifth graders.

Setting: Twenty classes were randomly assigned into either an intervention group or a control group.

Participants: From a total of 574 eligible students, 559 students participated in the study (intervention: 10 classes with 277 participants; control: 10 classes with 282 participants). The mean age of students was 11 years.

Intervention: Students attended 9 nutritional education sessions during the 2010 academic year. Parents/guardians and teachers received information on the same subjects.

Main outcome measurement: Changes in BMI and percentage of body fat.

Results: Intention-to-treat analysis showed that changes in BMI were not significantly different between the 2 groups (β = 0.003; p = 0.75). There was a major reduction in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and cookies in the intervention group; students in this group also consumed more fruits.

Conclusion: Encouraging the adoption of healthy eating habits promoted important changes in the adolescent diet, but this did not lead to a reduction in BMI gain. Strategies based exclusively on the quality of diet may not reduce weight gain among adolescents.

Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01046474.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1. Progress of individuals during the…
Figure 1. Progress of individuals during the study.

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Source: PubMed

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