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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 (??=?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.
SUBMITTER: Cunha DB
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3581462 | biostudies-literature | 2013
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature