The Children's Healthy Living (CHL) program, a collaboration among Pacific Land Grant Colleges, was developed and implemented with 27 communities across the US affiliated Pacific region in a 24 month community randomized intervention trial to prevent young child obesity. The multilevel, multisite, community-based intervention consisted of 4 cross-cutting functions (initiate or strengthen school wellness policies; partner and advocate for environmental change; promote CHL messages; and local capacity building) with 20 activities addressing 6 targeted behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, fruit and vegetable intake, sugar sweetened beverage intake, and water intake). A common intervention template and outcome measures were developed and implemented; IRB approval or ceding of approval was obtained at each of the 5 collaborating institutions. Controlling for age and sex of 2-10 year old children and accounting for the randomization units and clustering, the CHL intervention communities had significant changes in the following variables compared to control communities: prevalence of acanthosis nigricans (change of -0.1% vs +0.2%), child overweight plus obesity (-3.0% vs +1.7%), child waist circumference (+0.2cm vs +9cm), and daily screen time (-2.4min vs +3.0mins). Accelerometry and food related variables (fruit and vegetable intake, sugar sweetened beverage intake, water intake) are still being analyzed. The results indicate that community-based multilevel multi-component interventions can impact young child overweight and obesity and related behaviors and conditions. Support or Funding Information USDA/NIFA grant 2011-68001-30335
Publication Year
2017
Abstract