Policy-oriented, school-based physical activity intervention to prevent childhood obesity in China (the health legacy project of the second Summer Youth Olympic Games): a cluster randomised trial

Publication date: November 2016 Source:The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Volume 4, Supplement 1 Author(s): Fei Xu, Zhiyong Wang, Qing Ye, Lap Ah Tse, Hong Xue, Zhengqi Tan, Youfa Wang Background School-based physical activity intervention programmes are potentially effective in prevention of childhood obesity, but evidence was primarily from small-scale intervention trials (n<1000). On the basis of suggestions from International Olympic Committee and policy support from the local government, we extended knowledge and strategies from our previous similar trial on physical activity promotion (n=1108) to a large-scale, policy-oriented, school-based physical activity intervention programme, the Health Legacy Project of the second Summer Youth Olympic Games, which aimed to prevent childhood obesity in the general student population. We aimed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of this intervention in Nanjing, China, the host city of the Youth Olympic Games in 2014. Methods In this cluster randomised trial, we randomly selected fourth graders and seventh graders from 32 primary schools and 16 junior high schools from eight districts in Nanjing. Students were randomly assigned (1:1) into either intervention or control groups at the school level. Routine health education was provided to all schools, while the intervention schools additionally received a tailored 1 year multicomponent physical activity intervention programme that was integrated into t...
Source: The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Source Type: research