Lifestyle intervention in children with obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial in Ningbo city (the SCIENT study)

This study aimed to develop an m-Health-assisted lifestyle intervention program targeting overweight/obese children and assess its effectiveness on indicators of adiposity and NAFLD.MethodsThis is a cluster-randomized controlled trial that conducted in children with overweight/obesity in Ningbo city, Zhejiang Province, China. Students in Grade 3 (8 –10 years old) were recruited from six primary schools, with three be randomized to intervention group and three to usual practice group. The intervention program will last for one academic year and consists of health education, dietary guidance, and physical activity reinforcement. This program is characterized by encouraging four stakeholders, including School, Clinic, famIly, and studENT (SCIENT), to participate in controlling childhood obesity, assisted by m-Health technology. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and 3 months, 9 months, 24 months, and 36 months after baseline. The primary outcome will be the differences between the two groups in students’ body mass index and fatty liver index at the end of the intervention (9 months after baseline). During the implementation process, quality control methods will be adopted.DiscussionThe program will test the effectiveness of the m-Health-assisted lifestyle intervention on children with obesity and NAFLD. The results of this study will provide evidence for establishing effective lifestyle intervention strategy aimed at childhood obesity and NAFLD and may help deve...
Source: Trials - Category: Research Source Type: clinical trials