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Development of overweight in an atherosclerosis prevention trial starting in early childhood. The STRIP study

Abstract

Context:

Recent data indicate a marked increase in the prevalence of obesity among school-aged children. Thus, efficacious programmes that prevent overweight development in children are urgently needed.

Objective:

To evaluate the impact of repeatedly given, individualised dietary and lifestyle counselling on the prevalence of overweight during the first 10 years of life.

Design and participants:

This study was a part of the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project for Children (STRIP), which is a prospective, randomised trial aimed at reducing the exposure of the intervention children to the known risk factors of atherosclerosis. At the child's age of 7 months, 1062 children were assigned to an intervention group (n=540) or to a control group (n=522). The intervention children received individualised counselling focused on healthy diet and physical activity biannually. Height and weight of the children were measured at least once a year.

Main outcome measure:

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among the intervention and control children by sex and age. Children were classified as overweight or obese if their weight for height was >20% or 40% above the mean weight for height of healthy Finnish children, respectively.

Results:

After the age of 2 years, there were continuously fewer overweight girls in the intervention group than in the control group. At the age of 10 years, 10.2% of the intervention girls and 18.8% of the control girls were overweight (P=0.0439), whereas 11.6% of the intervention boys and 12.1% of the control boys were overweight (P≈1.00). Only three children in the intervention group were obese at some age point, whereas 14 control children were classified as obese at some age point.

Conclusion:

Individualised dietary and lifestyle counselling given twice a year since infancy decreases prevalence of overweight in school-aged girls even without any primary energy restrictions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Grants from Finnish Cardiac Research Foundation; Foundation for Pediatric Research, Finland; Academy of Finland (Grant 206374); Special Federal Grants for University Hospitals in Finland; Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; Sigrid Juselius Foundation; Turku University Foundation; Juho Vainio Foundation; and Finnish Cultural Foundation.

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Correspondence to M Hakanen.

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Hakanen, M., Lagström, H., Kaitosaari, T. et al. Development of overweight in an atherosclerosis prevention trial starting in early childhood. The STRIP study. Int J Obes 30, 618–626 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803249

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803249

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