Programs to prevent obesity in school children 5 to 10 years old: a review

Abstract

Introduction and objective: The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic review over the previous 15 years of the scientific studies that have been published with the objective of increasing the levels of physical activity, improve health and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children between ranging between the ages of 5 to 10 years. Material and methods: 28 studies were found: 2 systematic reviews, 2 articles describing on the methodological processes and 24 articles on intervention. You can distinguish two types of interventions: on the one hand those interventions focused on increasing the levels of physical activity, and on other hand those interventions that also introduce some educational and nutrition assessment. Results: The analysis of the results shows that 47.3% of the interventions evaluated BMI and observed significant improvements, 44.4% of the programs that assessed body composition have also seen significant improvements, 40% of the interventions that evaluated the waist-to-hip index observed improvements and 50% of the interventions that evaluated the sum of folds noted also significant improvements. In relation to bettering the physical condition of the subjects, it was shown that 45% of the intervention that assessed the cardiovascular endurance found significant improvements and in 66.6% of the procedures that evaluated the effects on strength have also seen significant improvements. Finally, changes in eating habits or increased knowledge of food and nutrition was observed at 66.6%.