Prevention of overweight by enhancing physical activity in non-overweight adolescents
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This 4-year randomized study conducted in middle schools of Eastern France aimed to assess whether an intervention designed to promote physical activity by changing attitudes through debates and attractive activities, and by providing social support and environmental changes encouraging physical activity prevents overweight in adolescents, with trial design randomization at school level. A total of 954 six-graders, 12 years of age at entry, participated in the study. Compared to controls, intervention students had a lower increase in BMI and age- and gender-adjusted BMI over time, an interaction with baseline weight status being noted. In initially non-overweight adolescents, the intervention had a significant effect throughout the study. At 4 years, 4.2% of the initially non-overweight adolescents were overweight in the intervention group versus 9.8% in the control group. In initially overweight adolescents, the differences observed across groups at 2 years did not persist over time. Independent of initial weight, adolescents in intervention cohort showed a significant increase in supervised physical activity, a significant decrease in TV/video viewing and a significant increase in HDL cholesterol levels. Enhancing physical activity with a multilevel program prevented excessive weight gain in non-overweight adolescents. Thus, this intervention trial integrating environmental changes provides evidence that prevention of obesity in youth is feasible.
Abstract
