School-Based Water Promotion Intervention Can Cut Overweight

MONDAY, Aug. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For elementary school students, a school-based water promotion and access intervention can attenuate the increase in the prevalence of overweight, but not obesity, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in Pediatrics.

Anisha I. Patel, M.D., from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues examined the impact of a school-based water promotion and access intervention (Water First) on changes in overweight. Low-income ethnically diverse elementary schools in California's Bay Area were cluster-randomized to intervention and control groups; data were included from 1,249 students from 56 fourth-grade classes in 18 schools (nine intervention and nine control).

The researchers observed no significant difference in changes in overweight prevalence in intervention versus control schools from baseline to seven months (−0.2 versus −0.4 percent). Increases in overweight prevalence were significantly greater in control versus intervention schools from baseline to 15 months (3.7 versus 0.5 percent). Intervention students had significantly lower change in overweight prevalence than control students at 15 months. No intervention effects were seen for prevalence of obesity.

"Water First holds promise for preventing overweight in children, with a greater effect size than previous school-based water interventions," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text