A group-randomized controlled trial for health promotion in Girl Scouts: Healthier Troops in a SNAP (Scouting Nutrition &; Activity Program)

Background  

Girl Scouting may offer a viable channel for health promotion and obesity prevention programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention program delivered through Girl Scout Junior troops that was designed to foster healthful troop meeting environments and increase obesity prevention behaviors at home.     

Early intervention of multiple home visits to prevent childhood obesity in a disadvantaged population: a home-based randomised controlled trial (Healthy Beginnings Trial)

Background  

Studies have shown that a proportion of children as young as two years are already overweight. This indicates that obesity prevention programs that commence as early as possible and are family-focused are needed. This Healthy Beginnings Trial aims to determine the efficacy of a community-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a home visiting intervention in preventing the early onset of childhood overweight and obesity. The intervention will be conducted over the first two years of life to increase healthy feeding behaviours and physical activity, decrease physical inactivity, enhance parent-child interaction, and hence reduce overweight and obesity among children at 2 and 5 years of age in the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Sydney, Australia.     

Reflections on community-based population health intervention and evaluation for obesity and chronic disease prevention: the Healthy Alberta Communities project

Objectives  

To reflect upon a population health intervention for obesity and chronic disease prevention, with specific attention to the processes of change and developing, implementing and evaluating an intervention in a community–university–government partnership context.     

Identification of contrastive and comparable school neighborhoods for childhood obesity and physical activity research

   

The neighborhood social and physical environments are considered significant factors contributing to children's inactive lifestyles, poor eating habits, and high levels of childhood obesity. Understanding of neighborhood environmental profiles is needed to facilitate community-based research and the development and implementation of community prevention and intervention programs. We sought to identify contrastive and comparable districts for childhood obesity and physical activity research studies.     

Increasing community capacity to prevent childhood obesity: challenges,lessons learned and results from the Romp &; Chomp intervention

Background  

Obesity is a major public health issue; however, only limited evidence is available about effective ways to prevent obesity, particularly in early childhood. Romp & Chomp was a community-wide obesity prevention intervention conducted in Geelong Australia with a target group of 12,000 children aged 0-5 years. The intervention had an environmental and capacity building focus and we have recently demonstrated that the prevalence of overweight/obesity was lower in intervention children, post-intervention. Capacity building is defined as the development of knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, systems and leadership to enable effective health promotion and the aim of this study was to determine if the capacity of the Geelong community, represented by key stakeholder organisations, to support healthy eating and physical activity for young children was increased after Romp & Chomp.     

Systematic development of a self-regulation weight-management intervention for overweight adults

Background  

This paper describes the systematic development of an intervention for the prevention of obesity among overweight adults. Its development was guided by the six steps of Intervention Mapping (IM), in which the establishment of program needs, objectives and methods is followed by development of the intervention and an implementation and evaluation plan.     

Assessing the intake of obesity-related foods and beverages in young children: comparison of a simple population survey with 24 hr-recall

Background  

With an increasing focus on obesity prevention there is a need for simple, valid tools to assess dietary indicators that may be the targets of intervention programs. The objective of this study was to determine the relative validity of previous day dietary intake using a newly developed parent-proxy questionnaire (EPAQ) for two to five year old children.     

Exploring the mechanisms of weight loss in the SHED-IT intervention for overweight men: a mediation analysis

Background  

Statistical mediation analysis can be used to improve the design of obesity prevention and treatment programs by identifying the possible mechanisms through which an intervention achieved its effects. The aim of this study was to identify mediators of weight loss in an Internet-based weight-loss program specifically designed for overweight men.     

Cost-effectiveness of active transport for primary school children - Walking School Bus program

Background  

To assess from a societal perspective the incremental cost-effectiveness of the Walking School Bus (WSB) program for Australian primary school children as an obesity prevention measure. The intervention was modelled as part of the ACE-Obesity study, which evaluated, using consistent methods, thirteen interventions targeting unhealthy weight gain in Australian children and adolescents.     

The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT girls) randomized controlled trial for adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools: rationale, study protocol, and baseline results

Background  

Child and adolescent obesity predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of lifestyle diseases. Although there is some evidence to suggest that rates of pediatric obesity have leveled off in recent years, this has not been the case among youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report the rationale, study design and baseline findings of a school-based obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools.     

Effectiveness of School-Based Intervention Programs in Reducing Prevalence of Overweight

Objectives:

To assess the effectiveness of school-based interventions program in reducing the prevalence of overweight or obesity among schoolchildren.

Data source:

Ovid Medline (1950-December 2012), Embase (1980-2012), CINAHL (1982-2012), secondary references, review articles, and expert in the field.

Study selection:

All published clinical trials were eligible for study if were randomized, methodologically strong-based on a validity assessment, aimed to evaluate a school-based intervention for childhood overweight or obesity, and measured outcome in term of prevalence/incidence difference in overweight and obesity among both groups. Studies involved in cost-effective analysis of school-based intervention have been excluded. Data from eligible studies abstracted and pooled for relative risk.

Results:

Five trials with 3,904 schoolchildren were included. Mean age of the students (boys and girls) ranges 8.6-12.6 years. Meta-analysis showed a statistical significance beneficial effect of school-based intervention programs on obesity status of schoolchildren (risk ratio (RR) 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43-0.78) and suggested 42% reduction in prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren through school-based intervention programs. Individual studies also showed effectiveness of these school-based interventions.

Conclusion:

School-based intervention programs are effective in prevention of childhood overweight and obesity problem and our results quantitatively supported this argument.     

'Be active, eat right', evaluation of an overweight prevention protocol among 5-year-old children: design of a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background  

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children has at least doubled in the past 25 years with a major impact on health. In 2005 a prevention protocol was developed applicable within Youth Health Care. This study aims to assess the effects of this protocol on prevalence of overweight and health behaviour among children.     

Sexual attitudes,pattern of communication,and sexual behavior among unmarried out-of-school youth in China

Background  

In recent years, more adolescents are engaging in premarital sex in China. However, only a limited number of studies have explored out-of-school youth's sexual attitudes and behaviors, critical for prevention intervention development.     

Why did soft drink consumption decrease but screen time not? Mediating mechanisms in a school-based obesity prevention program

Objectives  

This paper aims to identify the mediating mechanisms of a school-based obesity prevention program (DOiT).     

A primary health-care intervention on pre- and postnatal risk factor behavior to prevent childhood allergy. The Prevention of Allergy among Children in Trondheim (PACT) study

Background  

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a primary prevention intervention program on risk behavior for allergic diseases among children up to 2 years of age. The setting was in ordinary pre- and postnatal primary health care in Trondheim, Norway.     

Association of socioeconomic status with overall overweight and central obesity in men and women: the French Nutrition and Health Survey 2006

Background  

Identification of subpopulations at high risk of overweight and obesity is crucial for prevention and management of obesity in different socioeconomic status (SES) categories. The objective of the study was to describe disparities in the prevalence of overweight and obesity across socioeconomic status (SES) groups in 18–74 year-old French adults.     

What accounts for good practice? Assessment of obesity prevention projects for kindergarten children in Germany

Objective  

Up to now, no guideline has been set up that provides criteria for good practice in universal and selective childhood obesity prevention projects for children aged 3 to 6 in the kindergarten setting. Hence, based on guidelines for targeted prevention, the present study not only aims at assessing the current state of German universal and selective childhood obesity prevention projects in kindergartens, but also at deriving criteria of good practice in order to help fill this gap.     

Developing obesity prevention interventions among minority ethnic children in schools and places of worship: The DEAL (DiEt and Active Living) study

Background  

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern with serious implications for the sustainability of healthcare systems. Studies in the US and UK have shown that ethnicity is consistently associated with childhood obesity, with Black African origin girls in particular being more vulnerable to overweight and obesity than their White peers. Little is known, however, about what promotes or hinders engagement with prevention programmes among ethnic minority children.     

Reliability and relative validity of a child nutrition questionnaire to simultaneously assess dietary patterns associated with positive energy balance and food behaviours,attitudes, knowledge and environments associated with healthy eating

Background  

Food behaviours, attitudes, environments and knowledge are relevant to professionals in childhood obesity prevention, as are dietary patterns which promote positive energy balance. There is a lack of valid and reliable tools to measure these parameters. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and relative validity of a child nutrition questionnaire assessing all of these parameters, used in the evaluation of a community-based childhood obesity prevention project.     

Improving the coverage of the PMTCT programme through a participatory quality improvement intervention in South Africa

Background  

Despite several years of implementation, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes in many resource poor settings are failing to reach the majority of HIV positive women. We report on a data driven participatory quality improvement intervention implemented in a high HIV prevalence district in South Africa.