The Impact of School-Based Intervention for 9-13-year-old School Children with Overweight and Obesity

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Overweight Children; Obese Children and Adolescents

• Registration Number: NCT06671964
• Lead Sponsor: United Arab Emirates University

Brief Summary

Childhood obesity is a major issue for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Interventions modifying people's nutritional behavior and changing their dietary habits can potentially address this problem. This study assessed the effectiveness of the 6-month school-based nutritional educational intervention on fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition knowledge, anthropometric measures, and practice, attitude, and self-efficacy measures.

Detailed Description

The problem of childhood obesity is a critical issue for the UAE. Findings of recent studies illustrate that nutritional interventions seeking to modify people's nutritional behavior and change their dietary habits have the potential to address this problem. This article reports the results of the study that was dedicated to the influence of the school-based nutritional educational intervention on fruit and vegetable intake, anthropometric measures, practice, attitude, self-efficacy, and knowledge scores of schoolchildren. The intervention was carried out among 9-13-year-old schoolchildren at public schools from Dubai and Sharjah (n=403). The sample included three groups, including the control group (n=114), Intervention Group 1 (n=148), and Intervention Group 2 (n=141). The control group was exposed to a conventional curriculum on healthy nutrition. Group 1 participated in the intervention involving children, and Group 2 participated in the intervention involving students, peers, and parents.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-08-27
• Primary Completion: 2022-03-19
• Study Completion: 2023-02-28
• Study First Submitted: 2024-08-29
• Status Verified: 2024-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-11-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-11-01
• Study First Posted: 2024-11-04
• Last Update Posted: 2024-11-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 403

Inclusion Criteria

• WHO BMI-for-age growth charts, Students with BMI from the 85th to the 95th percentile were categorized as "overweight," and those who were above the 95th percentile were categorized as "obese"
• Attending Government school.
• Within Grades 6-9.
• Live in Dubai or Sharjah
• Female and male students

Exclusion Criteria

• Students with BMI below the 85th percentile for the WHO BMI-for-age growth charts.
• Not attending a government school
• Living in another emirate (not Dubai or Sharjah)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Nutrition Knowledge and Self-Efficacy	6 months	- Change in the percentage of children consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables and using a validated questionnaire(Arab Teens Lifestyle Questionnaire).; The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and the IBM, USA computer software (version 29).; Likert scales, were expressed as weighted mean ± SD. An independent t-test (parametric test) was used to analyze the effect of 2-level qualitative variables on quantitative variables, and one way ANOVA (parametric test) was used to analyze the effect of \>2-level qualitative variables on quantitative variables in each questionnaire section

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Anthropometric Data	6 months	Change in body measurements( Body Fat percentage using using Tanita BC730W) The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and the IBM, USA computer software (version 29).The anthropometric measurements of the control and intervention groups were compared using ANOVA before and after the nutritional education intervention.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

United Arab Emarites University; 🇦🇪 Al Ain, Ain, United Arab Emirates