BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that community-based interventions can reduce childhood obesity in older children. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Romp & Chomp intervention in reducing obesity and promoting healthy eating and active play in children aged 0-5 y. DESIGN: Romp & Chomp was a community-wide, multisetting, multistrategy intervention conducted in Australia from 2004 to 2008. The intervention occurred in a large regional city (Geelong) with a target group of 12,000 children and focused on community capacity building and environmental (political, sociocultural, and physical) changes to increase healthy eating and active play in early-childhood care and educational settings. The evaluation was repeat cross-sectional with a quasiexperimental design and comparison sample. Main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI), standardized BMI (zBMI; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 reference charts), and prevalence of overweight/obesity and obesity-related behaviors in children aged 2 and 3.5 y. RESULTS: After the intervention there was a significantly lower mean weight, BMI, and zBMI in the 3.5-y-old subsample and a significantly lower prevalence of overweight/obesity in both the 2- and 3.5-y-old subsamples (by 2.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively) than in the comparison sample (a difference of 0.7 percentage points; P < 0.05) compared with baseline values. Intervention child-behavioral data showed a significantly lower intake of packaged snacks (by 0.23 serving), fruit juice (0.52 serving), and cordial (0.43 serving) than that in the comparison sample (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A community-wide multisetting, multistrategy intervention in early-childhood settings can reduce childhood obesity and improve young children's diets. This trial was registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry at anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12607000374460.
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that community-based interventions can reduce childhood obesity in older children. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Romp & Chomp intervention in reducing obesity and promoting healthy eating and active play in children aged 0-5 y. DESIGN: Romp & Chomp was a community-wide, multisetting, multistrategy intervention conducted in Australia from 2004 to 2008. The intervention occurred in a large regional city (Geelong) with a target group of 12,000 children and focused on community capacity building and environmental (political, sociocultural, and physical) changes to increase healthy eating and active play in early-childhood care and educational settings. The evaluation was repeat cross-sectional with a quasiexperimental design and comparison sample. Main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI), standardized BMI (zBMI; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 reference charts), and prevalence of overweight/obesity and obesity-related behaviors in children aged 2 and 3.5 y. RESULTS: After the intervention there was a significantly lower mean weight, BMI, and zBMI in the 3.5-y-old subsample and a significantly lower prevalence of overweight/obesity in both the 2- and 3.5-y-old subsamples (by 2.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively) than in the comparison sample (a difference of 0.7 percentage points; P < 0.05) compared with baseline values. Intervention child-behavioral data showed a significantly lower intake of packaged snacks (by 0.23 serving), fruit juice (0.52 serving), and cordial (0.43 serving) than that in the comparison sample (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A community-wide multisetting, multistrategy intervention in early-childhood settings can reduce childhood obesity and improve young children's diets. This trial was registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry at anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12607000374460.
Authors: Kathryn L Braun; Claudio R Nigg; Marie K Fialkowski; Jean Butel; James R Hollyer; L Robert Barber; Andrea Bersamin; Patricia Coleman; Ursula Teo-Martin; Agnes M Vargo; Rachel Novotny Journal: Child Obes Date: 2014-12 Impact factor: 2.992
Authors: Jeremy D Goldhaber-Fiebert; Rachel E Rubinfeld; Jay Bhattacharya; Thomas N Robinson; Paul H Wise Journal: Med Decis Making Date: 2012-05-29 Impact factor: 2.583
Authors: Sara E Benjamin Neelon; Rebecca J Namenek Brouwer; Truls Østbye; Kelly R Evenson; Brian Neelon; Annie Martinie; Gary Bennett Journal: Child Obes Date: 2015-05-04 Impact factor: 2.992
Authors: Andrea de Silva-Sanigorski; Lauren Prosser; Lauren Carpenter; Suzy Honisett; Lisa Gibbs; Marj Moodie; Lauren Sheppard; Boyd Swinburn; Elizabeth Waters Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2010-05-28 Impact factor: 3.295