Weighing up the options
An abstract on the recent American research project, ‘Families On the Move’, which demonstrated that reducing calorie intake by using sucralose sweetened products and increasing physical activity can help maintain a healthier weight.
Title - Effectiveness of Families on the Move! A Family-Based Approach for Preventing Excessive Weight Gain in Children
Background
Physical inactivity and high fat and high sugar diets have been suggested to contribute to the increase in childhood obesity. While there is agreement about the urgent need to address the US childhood obesity epidemic, there are few proven effective preventative or therapeutic strategies.
Objective
We investigated whether excessive weight gain could be prevented in overweight (OW) children who participated in a fun, family-based, child-oriented program, Families on the Move! (FOM) that encouraged all family members to make two, small, healthy lifestyle changes. FOM is based on the national weight gain prevention initiative, America on the Move™.
Design/Methods
Families with at least one OW child (7-14 yrs, 85%BMI) were randomly assigned to the FOM or self-monitor (SM) group. FOM families (n=111) set individual and family-specific goals for making two changes: (1) increase physical activity by 2000 steps/d; (2) eliminate 100 kcal/d from their diet with an emphasis on replacing dietary sugars with SPLENDA® Low Calorie Sweetener or beverages made with sucralose (SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener). SM families (n=105) were asked to maintain and monitor their usual physical activity and food intake. Both groups measured physical activity using step counters, surveys and food diaries assessed intake.
Results
On average, both FOM (n=132) and SM (n=117) OW children showed decreases in mean %BMI over 6 months. However, significantly fewer FOM children gained %BMI compared to SM children (32.6% vs. 47.2%, p=0.044).Thus, participation in the FOM program was significantly more effective in reducing the number of OW children who gained weight in excess of that attributable to normal growth.
Conclusions
Families on The Move!, a family-based weight gain prevention program that includes small lifestyle changes consisting of increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake by using SPLENDA® Low Calorie Sweetener, holds promise as an easily usable tool for preventing excessive weight gain in OW children.
Funded by McNeil Nutritionals, LLC and NIH grant DK42549
Presented on April 30, 2006 at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California
References
SJ Rodearmel, EdD1,VL Grotz, PhD2, LA Goldsmith, PhD VMD2, SM Smith, BS1, LG Ogden, PhD1, HR Wyatt, MD1, JR Moran, MD2 and JO Hill, PhD1.
1Center for Human Nutrition, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, United States
2Medical & Nutritional Affairs, McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, Fort Washington, PA, United States.
Published in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing's Practice Nurse Association
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