Effects of school-based "We Fit" weight control programme in adolescents.
Sun-Mi Chae, Ji-Young Yeo, Ji-Hye Hwang and 1 others
PMID 34792283WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents in a 12-week school weight programme did not differ from controls in BMI or weekday steps, but had less weekend sitting, higher HDL and lower LDL than controls.
Key findings
01Compared with controls, the programme group had greater increases in skeletal muscle mass and greater decreases in waist circumference.
02Compared with controls, the programme group had greater increases in HDL cholesterol, smaller increases in LDL cholesterol, and greater decreases in weekend sitting time.
03Changes in BMI and weekday step counts did not differ between groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was done at one private high school in Seoul, so results may not apply to other schools. The control group was tested in one semester and the intervention group in another, so time of year or school calendar may have affected activity. The groups differed at baseline in age, BMI, triglycerides, weekday steps and weekday sitting time. Diet, activity and satisfaction were partly self-reported and could be biased. Eighteen students dropped out for reasons including activity tracker problems and changing schools, and dropout data were excluded. The programme combined several components, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The exergaming was low intensity, and some participants doubted its effectiveness. The study did not use percentiles or Z-scores for growth parameters.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Ministry of Education and Seoul National University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that exergaming alone caused the changes. The programme also included diet diaries, nutritional counselling, health education and small group discussions through social networking services. BMI and weekday steps did not differ from controls.