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

de Silva-Sanigorski, A; Bell, A; Kremer, P; Nichols, M; Crellin, M; Smith, M; Sharp, S; de Groot, F; Carpenter, L; Boak, R; Robertson, N; Swinburn, B

Journal article

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

Abstract:: BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that community-based interventions can reduce childhood obesity in older children. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Romp and Chomp intervention in reducing obesity and promoting healthy eating and active play in children aged 0-5 y. DESIGN: Romp and Chomp was a community-wide, multisetting, multistrategy intervention conducted in Australia from 2004 to 2008. The intervention occurred in a large regional city (Geelong) with a target group of 12,000 children and focused on community capacity building and environmental (political, sociocultural, and physical) changes to increase healthy eating and active play in early-childhood care and educational settings. The evaluation was repeat cross-sectional with a quasiexperimental design and comparison sample. Main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI), standardized BMI (zBMI; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 reference charts), and prevalence of overweight/obesity and obesity-related behaviors in children aged 2 and 3.5 y. RESULTS: After the intervention there was a significantly lower mean weight, BMI, and zBMI in the 3.5-y-old subsample and a significantly lower prevalence of overweight/obesity in both the 2- and 3.5-y-old subsamples (by 2.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively) than in the comparison sample (a difference of 0.7 percentage points; P < 0.05) compared with baseline values. Intervention child-behavioral data showed a significantly lower intake of packaged snacks (by 0.23 serving), fruit juice (0.52 serving), and cordial (0.43 serving) than that in the comparison sample (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A community-wide multisetting, multistrategy intervention in early-childhood settings can reduce childhood obesity and improve young children's diets. This trial was registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry at anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12607000374460.

Publication status:: Published

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APA Style

de Silva-Sanigorski, A., Bell, A., Kremer, P., Nichols, M., Crellin, M., Smith, M., Sharp, S., de Groot, F., Carpenter, L., Boak, R., Robertson, N., & Swinburn, B. (2010). Reducing obesity in early childhood: results from Romp and Chomp, an Australian community-wide intervention program. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(4), 831–840.

MLA Style

de Silva-Sanigorski, A, et al. “Reducing Obesity in Early Childhood: Results from Romp and Chomp, an Australian Community-Wide Intervention Program.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 91, no. 4, 2010, pp. 831–40.

Chicago Style

Silva-Sanigorski, A de, A Bell, P Kremer, et al. 2010. “Reducing Obesity in Early Childhood: Results from Romp and Chomp, an Australian Community-Wide Intervention Program.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 91 (4): 831–40.
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