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ABSTRACT: Background
The Daily Mile is designed to increase physical activity levels with children running or walking around school grounds for 15-min daily. It has been adopted by schools worldwide and endorsed as a solution to tackle obesity, despite no robust evidence of its benefits. We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial to determine its clinical and cost-effectiveness.Methods
Forty schools were randomly assigned (1:1) to either the Daily Mile intervention or control group in which only the usual school health and wellbeing activities were implemented. The primary outcome was BMI z-score (BMIz) at 12 months follow-up from baseline, with planned subgroup analysis to examine differential effects. Primary economic analysis outcome was incremental cost per Quality-Adjusted-Life-Year (QALY) gained.Results
Using a constrained randomisation approach, balanced on school size, baseline BMIz and proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, 20 schools were allocated to intervention (n?=?1,153 participants) and 20 to control (n?=?1,127); 3 schools withdrew (2 intervention, 1 control). At 12 months, BMIz data were available for 18 intervention schools (n?=?850) and 19 control schools (n?=?820 participants). Using intention-to-treat analysis the adjusted mean difference (MD) in BMIz (intervention?-?control) was -0.036 (95% CI: -0.085 to 0.013, p?=?0.146). Pre-specified subgroup analysis showed a significant interaction with sex (p?=?0.001) suggesting a moderate size benefit of The Daily Mile in girls (MD -0.097, 95% CI -0.156 to -0.037). This was consistent with the exploratory economic results that showed The Daily Mile to be highly cost-effective in girls (£2,492 per QALY), but not in boys, and overall to have a 76% chance of cost-effectiveness for the whole sample, at the commonly applied UK threshold of £20,000 per QALY.Conclusions
Overall the Daily Mile had a small but non-significant effect on BMIz, however, it had a greater effect in girls suggesting that it might be considered as a cost-effective component of a system-wide approach to childhood obesity prevention.
SUBMITTER: Breheny K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7101281 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Breheny Katie K Passmore Sandra S Adab Peymane P Martin James J Hemming Karla K Lancashire Emma R ER Frew Emma E
International journal of obesity (2005) 20200128 4
<h4>Background</h4>The Daily Mile is designed to increase physical activity levels with children running or walking around school grounds for 15-min daily. It has been adopted by schools worldwide and endorsed as a solution to tackle obesity, despite no robust evidence of its benefits. We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial to determine its clinical and cost-effectiveness.<h4>Methods</h4>Forty schools were randomly assigned (1:1) to either the Daily Mile intervention or control group ...[more]