Evaluation of the effectiveness of an intervention program on preventing childhood obesity in Denizli, Turkey

Abstract

Aim: To determine the efficiency of 2 different intervention programs (healthy nutrition education and/or physical activity programs) for preventing the obesity of primary school students. Materials and methods: Selected were 6 schools, making 3 groups, from all primary schools in Denizli with the half-day education system. Each group was composed of 2 schools. Th e groups were randomly divided into intervention group 1, intervention group 2, and the control group. The body mass index (BMI) levels of the students in all of the groups were calculated. Both the physical activity and healthy nutrition programs were applied to intervention group 1, and only the healthy nutrition program was applied to intervention group 2. BMI measurements were repeated 8 months after the interventions. The differences between the 2 BMI measurements were calculated. Results: The increase of BMI was 0.51 in the control group and 0.35 and 0.37 in the respective intervention groups. It was found that the BMI increase in both of the intervention groups was lower than that of the control group, which means that the interventions were effective. Conclusion: Two different intervention programs were applied (healthy nutrition program and/or physical activity) and were found to be effective in preventing obesity in children. © TÜBİTAK.