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Reducing obesity in early childhood: results from Romp & Chomp, an Australian community-wide intervention program

Andrea M de Silva-Sanigorski1, A Colin Bell, Peter Kremer

  • 1WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention Deakin University Geelong Australia. andrea.sanigorski@deakin.edu.au

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|February 12, 2010
PubMed

Insights

The Romp & Chomp intervention successfully reduced childhood obesity in young children by promoting healthy eating and active play. This community-wide approach improved diets and lowered BMI in children aged 0-5 years.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pediatrics
  • Community Interventions

Background:

  • Growing evidence supports community-based interventions for reducing childhood obesity in older children.
  • The Romp & Chomp intervention targeted children aged 0-5 years to address obesity and promote healthy habits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the effectiveness of the Romp & Chomp intervention in reducing obesity.
  • To promote healthy eating and active play in children aged 0-5 years.

Main Methods:

  • A community-wide, multisetting, multistrategy intervention (Romp & Chomp) was conducted in Australia (2004-2008).
  • Focused on community capacity building and environmental changes in early-childhood settings.
  • Utilized a repeat cross-sectional, quasiexperimental design with a comparison sample to measure BMI, zBMI, and obesity-related behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Significantly lower mean weight, BMI, and zBMI observed in 3.5-year-olds post-intervention.
  • Reduced prevalence of overweight/obesity in 2- and 3.5-year-olds (2.5% and 3.4% reduction, respectively).
  • Lower intake of packaged snacks, fruit juice, and cordial in intervention children compared to the control group.

Conclusions:

  • Community-wide, multistrategy interventions in early-childhood settings can effectively reduce childhood obesity.
  • The Romp & Chomp intervention demonstrated success in improving young children's diets and physical activity.
  • Registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12607000374460).
Abstract

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