PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kipping, R R
AU  - Payne, C
AU  - Lawlor, D A
TI  - Randomised controlled trial adapting US school obesity prevention to England
AID  - 10.1136/adc.2007.116970
DP  - 2008 Jun 01
TA  - Archives of Disease in Childhood
PG  - 469--473
VI  - 93
IP  - 6
4099  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/6/469.short
4100  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/6/469.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child2008 Jun 01; 93
AB  - Objectives: To determine whether a school obesity prevention project developed in the United States can be adapted for use in England.Methods: A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial and interviews with teachers were carried out in 19 primary schools in South West England. Participants included 679 children in year 5 (age 9–10). Baseline and follow-up assessments were completed for 323 children (screen viewing) and 472 children (body mass index). Sixteen lessons on healthy eating, physical activity and reducing TV viewing were taught over 5 months by teachers. Main outcome measures were hours of screen activities, body mass index, mode of transport to school and teachers’ views of the intervention.Results: Children from intervention schools spent less time on screen-viewing activities after the intervention but these differences were imprecisely estimated: mean difference in minutes spent on screen viewing at the end of the intervention (intervention schools minus control schools) adjusted for baseline levels and clustering within schools was −11.6 (95% CI −42.7 to 19.4) for a week day and was −15.4 (95% CI −57.5 to 26.8) for a Saturday. There was no difference in mean body mass index or the odds of obesity.Conclusions: It is feasible to transfer this US school-based intervention to UK schools, and it may be effective in reducing the time children spend on screen-based activities. The study has provided information for a full-scale trial, which would require 50 schools (∼1250 pupils) to detect effects on screen viewing and body mass index over 2 years of follow-up.