Follow-up of a healthy lifestyle education program (the EdAl study): four years after cessation of randomized controlled trial intervention

Author, as appears in the article.: Llaurado, Elisabet; Tarro, Lucia; Morina, David; Aceves-Martins, Magaly; Giralt, Montse; Sola, Rosa

Department: Medicina i Cirurgia; Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques

URV's Author/s: ACEVES MARTINS, MAGALY / Giralt Batista, Montserrat / Llauradó Ribé, Elisabet / Solà Alberich, Rosa Maria / Tarro Sánchez, Lucía

Keywords: Spain; School-based intervention; School health services; Program evaluation; Pediatric obesity; Obesity; Male; Lifestyles; Life style; Humans; Health education; Follow-up studies; Follow-up; Female; Adolescents; Adolescent; obesity; lifestyles; follow-up; adolescents

Abstract: Background An important challenge of school-based childhood obesity (OB) intervention programs is understanding the maintenance of the effects after cessation of the intervention to overcome the limitations of follow-up studies. The aim of this study is to verify the sustainability of the benefits achieved at a 4-year follow-up of the post-Educació en Alimentació (EDAl) program intervention cessation by assessing the OB-related outcomes and lifestyles of 13- to 15-year-old adolescents. Methods This paper describes a 4-year follow-up study after the cessation of a school-based randomized controlled intervention in adolescents (n = 349, intervention; n = 154, control) with baseline and 4-year follow-up data from high schools in Reus (intervention group), Salou, Cambrils and Vila-seca (control group). The outcomes are body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, and OB prevalence according to the World Health Organization and International Obesity Task Force criteria and lifestyle data (obtained from questionnaires). Results Compared with the control girls, the intervention girls showed reduced BMI z-scores (−0.33 units, p < 0.01) from baseline (2007) to the 4-year follow-up post-intervention (2014). Compared with the control boys, the intervention boys showed reduced OB prevalence (−7.7%; p = 0.02). Compared with the control boys, more boys in the intervention group (19% increase; p = 0.059) showed ≥4 h/week after-school physical activity (PA). A decrease in the consumption of dairy products, fruits and fish was observed in both groups. Conclusions At the 4-year post-intervention follow-up of the EdAl program, compared with the control groups, girls had lower BMI z-scores and boys had lower OB prevalence from the intervention. The encouragement in after-school PA was long-lasting and maintained after the cessation of the intervention, whereas healthy food habits must be further reinforced in adolescents.

Thematic Areas: Zootecnia / recursos pesqueiros; Sociología; Serviço social; Saúde coletiva; Química; Public, environmental & occupational health; Public health, environmental and occupational health; Psicología; Planejamento urbano e regional / demografia; Odontología; Nutrição; Medicina iii; Medicina ii; Medicina i; Interdisciplinar; Geociências; Farmacia; Ensino; Enfermagem; Educação física; Educação; Economia; Ciências biológicas iii; Ciências biológicas ii; Ciências biológicas i; Ciências ambientais; Ciência de alimentos; Biotecnología; Astronomia / física; Antropologia / arqueologia; Administração, ciências contábeis e turismo; Administração pública e de empresas, ciências contábeis e turismo

licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

ISSN: 14712458

Author's mail: elisabet.llaurado@urv.cat; montse.giralt@urv.cat; rosa.sola@urv.cat

Record's date: 2025-02-24

Paper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Link to the original source: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-017-5006-0

Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

Paper original source: Bmc Public Health. 18 (1): 104-

APA: Llaurado, Elisabet; Tarro, Lucia; Morina, David; Aceves-Martins, Magaly; Giralt, Montse; Sola, Rosa (2018). Follow-up of a healthy lifestyle education program (the EdAl study): four years after cessation of randomized controlled trial intervention. Bmc Public Health, 18(1), 104-. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-5006-0

Article's DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-5006-0

Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Journal publication year: 2018

Publication Type: Journal Publications