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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Jan 5;18(1):104.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-5006-0.

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

Elisabet Llauradó  1 , Lucia Tarro  2 , David Moriña  3 , Magaly Aceves-Martins  1 , Montse Giralt  4 , Rosa Solà  5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

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

Elisabet Llauradó et al. BMC Public Health. .

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.

Trial registration: ISRCTN29247645 .

Keywords: Adolescents; Follow-up; Lifestyles; Obesity; School-based intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

ELL has a Ph.D. and is a researcher and professor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. LT has a Ph.D. and is a researcher and professor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. MAM is a Ph.D. MG has an M.D., Ph.D. and is a researcher and professor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. MG is also vice-dean of Universitat Rovira i Virgili. RS has an M.D., Ph.D. and is a full professor. RS is also a researcher and physician at Hospital Universitari Sant Joan of Reus and Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The EdAl follow-up study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethical Committee of the Hospital Sant Joan of Reus, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Catalan ethical committee registry #20; ref.: 12–03-29/3proj2).

Parents or guardians provided written informed consent for the children who participated in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the participants throughout the study. The 4-year follow-up post-intervention measurements were conducted over the 2014 academic year in Reus (intervention group) and in Cambrils, Salou and Vila-seca (control group)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Evolution of the proportion of the children who improved in the BMI category since the previous time point
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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