A Prospective Study Measuring the Effect of an Interactive Educational Program on Overweight and Obesity among School-Aged Children

Abstract

Being overweight or obese is a public health problem. This work evaluated a food and nutrition education (FNE) intervention to reduce overweight status among schoolchildren in four schools in the West Panama Province. This was a quasi-experimental before-and-after study that implemented a 34-week FNE intervention through workshops with didactic material to 403 children between 8 and 13 years old. A knowledge and attitude survey was used as an evaluation tool before and after the FNE intervention. The prevalence of excess weight (40%) did not reduce after the intervention. The zBMI at the beginning was 0.57 (1.29) for girls and 0.70 (1.36) for boys, and at the final evaluation was 0.57 (1.28) for girls and 0.67 (1.33) for boys. No significant differences were observed between the point of evaluation and sex. No differences were reported in the median level of attitude, although higher levels of knowledge were reported in students of both sexes. The FNE in schoolchildren can be effective in acquiring knowledge and maintaining a positive attitude towards food, but more research is needed to address nutritional status. Although the intervention had no impact on nutritional status, the FNE facilitated the adoption of skills and competencies in schoolchildren. The success of the implementation of the study highlighted the feasibility of replicating the FNE interventions on a larger scale to contribute positively to the multi-level and sectoral public policy Study Without Hunger in Panama.