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[An Early Obesity Prevention Program: HaViSa UC (2009-2019)]
1División de Pediatría, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Insights
Childhood obesity prevention is crucial. A 10-year program significantly reduced obesity and overweight rates in preschoolers, demonstrating lasting positive effects on child health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a significant global nutritional and epidemiological challenge.
- Effective prevention strategies are vital for long-term child health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a multidimensional obesity prevention program for infants and preschoolers.
- To assess changes in overweight and obesity prevalence 10 years after program implementation.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, quasi-experimental study analyzed anthropometric data from 2009-2019.
- The HaViSa-UC program focused on nutritional assessment, parental communication, healthy food provision, and lifestyle education.
- Data from 3 nursery and preschool centers were analyzed using WHO 2006 standards and Minitab 17 software.
Main Results:
- Overweight prevalence decreased from 32.6% to 23.8%, and obesity from 8.6% to 4.7% over 10 years.
- Normal weight increased from 56.9% to 67.4%, with no increase in malnutrition.
- A significant reduction in zW/H (p: 0.00) was observed, indicating improved weight-for-height status.
Conclusions:
- The HaViSa-UC program achieved a 45.4% decrease in obesity and a 27.2% decrease in overweight among participating children.
- These positive results remained stable 10 years post-implementation, highlighting the program's sustained impact.
- Early, multidimensional lifestyle interventions are effective in combating childhood obesity.
Introduction:
Prevention is the definitive solution to the serious nutritional epidemiological pro blem of children in our country and the world, obesity.
Objective:
To describe the results of an obesi ty prevention program for infants and preschoolers, ten years after its implementation.
Subjects And Methods:
Retrospective, and quasi-experimental study of the overweight and obesity prevalence, in children attending three nursery and preschool centers located at the Universidad Católica de Chile, since the implementation of a multidimensional program for early promotion of healthy lifestyle habits (HaViSa-UC) between 2009 and 2019. This study obtained ethical approval. Annual records of anthropometric assessment (WHO 2006) were analyzed using Minitab 17 software. The actions applied by the HaViSa-UC program were the assessment of nutritional status and communication with parents, delivery of healthy food, promotion of an active lifestyle, and education to encourage such healthy habits.
Results:
The annual mean was 319 subjects, 14% younger than two years old, and 49.5% were girls. In March 2009 (baseline), 32.6% had overweight and 8.6% obesity; both figures decreased reaching 23.8% and 4.7% respectively, in March 2019. Normal weight increased from 56.9 to 67.4% and malnutrition presented no increase. In the same period, zW/H dropped from 0.84 ± 0.94 to 0.55 ± 0.87 (p: 0.00), and zH/A increased from -0.36 ± 0.87 to -0.32 ± 0.90 (p > 0.05). Con clusion: Since the implementation of the HaViSa-UC Program, the frequency of obesity decreased by 45.4% and overweight by 27.2% in this sample of infants and preschoolers, remaining stable after 10 years.