The Effectiveness of School- Based in Reducing and Preventing Childhood Obesity in China

Abstract

Research Aim: To describe thecomponents and effectiveness of school-focused interventions to reduce obesity among children in China. Background: The rise in global childhood obesity is a significant healthcare issue. Obesity and overweight are responsible for more than 3.4 million deaths around the world every year. The health risks associated with childhood obesity include cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and many other breathing-related complications. Notably, childhood obesity is a major predictor of adult obesity and if obesity is not addressed during childhood, obese children become obese adults. Thus, there is a need to examine interventions that aim to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. Methods: The structured literature review (SLR) synthesized and analysed four randomised controlled trials(RCTs) of school-based interventions which took place in China. Besides, the review employed an array of criteria to select suitable studies for research. For instance, only sources, which were focused on school-based intervention and publishedfrom 2015 until2019, were eligible for inclusion. Furthermore, the review conducted its search from renowned journal-databases such as CENTRAL, CINAHL, and MEDLINE.
Results: The SLR included four studies with a sample size of 23,029. All four studies concluded that the school-based interventions were effective in reducing the participants’ body mass index (BMI), reducing participants’body weight and increasing the participants’ knowledge of healthy lifestyle bahaviours and increasing levels of physical activities. The research further recorded a positive impact of the interventions on the children’s dietary bahaviours. However, only a few studies looked at sedentary lifestyle as an outcome, but the studies stated that there wasno significant effect of the interventions on children’s sedentary bahaviour. Conclusion: The SLR revealed that school-based interventions to reduce obesity in China were often successful in increasing physical activity, reducing BMI and weight, and increasing awareness of healthy lifestyle factors. However, the review was not conclusive in relation to waist circumference and the prevalence of sedentary behaviour as many studies did not report on these variables. In general, because there were few studies focusing on the area of school-based obesity intervention in China, further studies are needed to better understand how to address the problem and prevent it in the future.