Effectiveness of after-school physical activity intervention on body mass index and waist circumference/height ratio among overweight adolescents in selected Schools at Puducherry, India: A randomized controlled trial

• Main Authors: Sumathy Ponnambalam (Author), Soundararajan Palanisamy (Author), Rajeswari Singaravelu (Author), Hemamalini Arambakkam Janardhanan (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0970-0218; 1998-3581; 10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_1031_21
• Keywords: adolescents; after school; body mass index; obesity; overweight; physical activity; waist circumference/height ratio; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Indian Journal of Community Medicine, Vol 47, Iss 1, Pp 72-75 (2022)

Background: Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has dramatically increased in the recent years. In India, more than 10% of schoolchildren are overweight or obese. Schools play a major role in the modification of behavior. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of after-school physical activity intervention on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference/height ratio as primary outcomes. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled trial was adopted where the schools were randomized. Each group, i.e., study and control groups, had 140 overweight adolescents. BMI and waist circumference/height ratio were measured. After-school physical activity intervention was carried out for a period of 9 months by the study group. The posttests were carried out at an interval of 3 months up till 9 months. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in BMI between the study and control groups during the 6th and 9th months (t = 1.256, P < 0.001 and t = 0.920, P < 0.001), respectively. The repeated measures analysis of variance did not show a significant reduction in BMI and waist circumference/height ratio over a period of time. Conclusion: School-based physical activity interventions are effective in prevention of childhood overweight/obesity and are a very cost-effective measure that can be easily implemented in schools.