Learning Outcome: Describe the methods and the results of a meta-analysis that was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of randomized controlled school-based childhood obesity prevention programs. Background: Childhood obesity is a public health concern in the United States as well as worldwide. The objective of this meta-analytical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based childhood obesity prevention programs. Methods: English-language studies were included in the meta-analysis if (1) schools were the unit of randomization, (2) students were the unit of analysis, (3) outcomes were based on body mass index (BMI) or skinfold thickness, (4) students were 6-18 years old, (5) regular school hours were used to conduct the intervention, and (6) nutrition or physical activity was an intervention component. Year of publication was not an inclusion criterion. Studies were retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar, the university’s comprehensive EBSCOhost Web Service which included seven databases, and reference lists from systematic literature reviews. Results: Sixteen school-randomized studies with a total of 14,211 children provided 20 effect sizes. A random-effects model calculated an overall small effect size (d=0.080, 95% confidence interval 0.022-0.137, P=0.007) with a moderate amount of heterogeneity observed among studies; publication bias was nil. The most effective program (d=0.393) was a 12-month nutrition and physical activity intervention with 5th grade children. The least effective program (d=-0.175) included boys (1st–3rd grades) in a nutrition and physical activity intervention; however, the girls in the program had an increase in obesity only in the control schools (d=0.073).Conclusion: Overall, randomized controlled school-based childhood obesity prevention programs produced a small improvement in children’s BMI or skinfold thickness values.
Date:
2016-09
Relation:
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2016 Sep;116(9, Suppl.):A42.
