A Community-Based Behavioral Intervention and Body Mass Index in School-Aged Children

Does a community-based behavioral intervention targeting sugar-sweetened beverage consumption improve body mass index outcomes among school-aged children? In this cluster randomized clinical trial of 437 children aged 8 to 13 years across 11 after-school sites, children in the intervention condition experienced a significant reduction in body mass index z scores from baseline to 12 months compared with children in usual programming. The findings of this study suggest that behavioral interventions delivered in community settings can improve child weight outcomes and complement clinical approaches to pediatric obesity prevention.

Corresponding Author: Monica L. Wang, ScD, MS, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02118 (mlwang@bu.edu).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.