Changes in adolescents’ intake of sugarsweetened beverages and sedentary behaviour: results at 8 month mid-way assessment of the HEIA study - a comprehensive, multi-component school-based randomized trial
Bjelland, Mona; Bergh, Ingunn Holden; Grydeland, May; Klepp, Knut-Inge; Andersen, Lene F.; Anderssen, Sigmund A.; Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lien, Nanna
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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Date
2011-06-17Metadata
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Original version
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2011, 8:63Abstract
Background: Inconsistent effects of school-based obesity prevention interventions may be related to how different
subgroups receive them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an intervention program, including
fact sheets to parents and classroom components, on intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and screen time.
Further, to explore whether potential effects and parental involvement varied by adolescents’ gender, weight status
(WS) and parental educational level.
Methods: In total, 1465 11-year-olds participated at the pre-test and the 8 month mid-way assessment of the HEIA
study. Parents (n = 349) contributed with process evaluation data. Self-reported intake of SSB was collected from
the 11-year-olds assessing frequency and amount, while time used on watching TV/DVD and computer/game-use
(weekday and weekend day) were assed by frequency measures. Data on awareness of the intervention and dose
received were collected from parents. Covariance analyses (ANCOVA) were conducted testing for effects by gender
and for moderation by WS and parental education.
Results: Time spent on TV/DVD (week p = 0.001, weekend p = 0.03) and computer/game-use (week p = 0.004,
weekend p <.001), and the intake of SSB during weekend days (p = 0.04), were significantly lower among girls in
the intervention group compared to the control group girls after 8 months. Girls’ WS did not moderate these
findings. However, no significant effects of the intervention were found for boys, but moderation effects were
found for WS (week days: TV/DVD, p = 0.03 and computer/games, p = 0.02). There were no moderating effects of
parental education for neither boys nor girls with respect to intake of SSB, time used for watching TV/DVD and
computer/game-use. Parental awareness of the intervention was significantly higher among the parents of girls,
while the parents of boys were more satisfied with the fact sheets.
Conclusions: The preventive initiatives appeared to change behaviour in girls only. This study suggests that
exploration of potential beneficial or negative effects of intervention in subgroups is important. In formative
evaluation of obesity prevention studies it seems warranted to include issues related to gender, WS and parental
involvement in order to enhance the effectiveness of preventive initiatives.
Description
© 2011 Bjelland et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.