An early obesity prevention program: Havisa uc (2009-2019)

Abstract

Introduction: Prevention is the definitive solution to the serious nutritional epidemiological pro-blem of children in our country and the world, obesity. Objective: To describe the results of an obesity prevention program for infants and preschoolers, ten years after its implementation. Subjects and Methods: Retrospective, and quasi-experimental study of the overweight and obesity prevalence, in children attending three nursery and preschool centers located at the Universidad Católica de Chile, since the implementation of a multidimensional program for early promotion of healthy lifestyle habits (HaViSa-UC) between 2009 and 2019. This study obtained ethical approval. Annual records of anthropometric assessment (WHO 2006) were analyzed using Minitab 17 software. The actions applied by the HaViSa-UC program were the assessment of nutritional status and communication with parents, delivery of healthy food, promotion of an active lifestyle, and education to encourage such healthy habits. Results The annual mean was 319 subjects, 14% younger than two years old, and 49.5% were girls. In March 2009 (baseline), 32.6% had overweight and 8.6% obesity; both figures decreased reaching 23.8% and 4.7% respectively, in March 2019. Normal weight increased from 56.9 to 67.4% and malnutrition presented no increase. In the same period, zW/H dropped from 0.84 ± 0.94 to 0.55 ± 0.87 (p: 0.00), and zH/A increased from-0.36 ± 0.87 to-0.32 ± 0.90 (p > 0.05). Con-clusion: Since the implementation of the HaViSa-UC Program, the frequency of obesity decreased by 45.4% and overweight by 27.2% in this sample of infants and preschoolers, remaining stable after 10 years.