Diet outcomes of a pilot school-based randomised controlled obesity prevention study with 9-10 year olds in England

Objectives: To assess the effect of a US obesity prevention intervention on dietary outcomes in English 9-10 year old children in 2006.

Methods: A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in 19 schools with children aged 9 to 10 with lessons taught by teachers. Diet was assessed at baseline and 5 months later using questionnaires. Full intention-to-treat analysis (n=506) and analyses using only those with complete baseline and follow-up data (n=393).

Results: 8.5% of children ate 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day. The odds of eating healthy amounts of fruit and vegetables (OR 1.39 (95%CI: 0.69, 2.80)) and snacks (OR 1.22 (95%CI: 0.68, 2.21)) were greater in children from the intervention compared to control schools. Point estimates were less than one for consumption of no portions of high fat food and one or zero high energy drinks. A full-scale trial would require 2640 children (106 schools) with 80% power to detect an odds ratio of at least 1.30 for healthy levels of consumption for the four dietary outcomes, with an alpha level of 0.01.

Conclusions: The US intervention can be transferred to England and it might be effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and decreasing snacks.