design and pilot testing of an intervention for the management of overweight/obesity in primary school children (7-8 years old) through the primary health care system in an urban setting in iran

Background and objectives: in iran, childhood obesity is an emerging problem that the primary health care (phc) system is not well equipped for yet. the purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the effect of a phc-based behavioral management intervention to control overweight and obesity in children. materials and methods: this quasi-experimental community trial was performed on 200 overweight or obese 6-8 yr. old children, in 5 urban phc centers (3 interventions and 2 controls) for 12 months. a convenient sampling frame was applied from elementary schools of districts 7 and 8 (as intervention and control groups, respectively) in the northeast of tehran city, the capital of iran. mothers were trained on parenting style and healthy lifestyle behaviors through a 5-session training workshop. anthropometrics (weight, height, body mass index (bmi), and waist circumference (, as well as blood pressure of children were measured at the beginning, 3rd, 6th, and 12th months, thereafter. physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and dietary habits of children were also assessed. results: of the total, 20.8% (n=41) of children were overweight and 79.2 % (n=156) were obese. compared with controls, the intervention group had smaller bmi-z scores. the slope of bmi-z score reduction was more impressive in the intervention group compared to the control group. the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the intervention group was significantly lower compared to the control group in all three measurements. in the intervention group, a significant decrease in the frequency of fast-food consumption and sedentary behaviors time was observed (p-value= 0.022 and 0.055, respectively). there was no significant difference between the two groups in waist circumference, fruit, vegetable, and breakfast consumption, calorie intake, and physical activity at the end of the study. conclusions: the protocol of the study is being used as a basis for developing childhood obesity management programs within the health system in iran.