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BACKGROUND: Multilevel approaches involving environmental strategies are considered to be good practice to help reduce the prevalence of childhood overweight. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of VIASANO, a community-based programme using the EPODE methodology, on the prevalence of overweight in two pilot towns in Belgium. METHODS: We analysed data from a national school health monitoring system to compare changes in the prevalence of overweight and obesity over a 3-year period (2007-2010) in children aged 3-4 and 5-6 years in the pilot towns with those of children of the same ages from the whole French-speaking community of Belgium. Heights and weights of all participants were measured by trained school nurses using a standardized method. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight (-2.1%) and overweight + obesity (-2.4%) decreased in the pilot towns, but remained stable in the comparison population (+0.1% and +0.2%, respectively). After adjustment for lack of homogeneity between the study populations, there was a trend towards a decrease in overweight (P = 0.054) and overweight + obesity (P = 0.058) in the pilot towns compared with the general population. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a community-based programme, such as VIASANO, may be a promising strategy for reducing the prevalence of childhood overweight even over a short period of time.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/ijpo.12022

Type

Journal article

Journal

Pediatr Obes

Publication Date

02/2016

Volume

11

Pages

61 - 67

Keywords

Childhood overweight, EPODE, community-based intervention, obesity, prevention, Belgium, Body Mass Index, Child, Child, Preschool, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Education, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Overweight, Pilot Projects, Prevalence, Program Evaluation, School Health Services