"GIOCAMPUS" - An effective school-based intervention for breakfast promotion and overweight risk reduction.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a campaign promoting breakfast in primary school-children from the city of Parma, Italy, where 22 % of peer school-children had reported in 2005 to  skip breakfast. Two groups of children were interviewed by a multiple choice questionnaire on their breakfast habits. Group 1 counted only the children who  underwent the intensive campaign (n. 341), and  Group 2 a number of matched peers who did not attend any breakfast-promoting program (n. 291). Children who did not eat breakfast were found to be more numerous in Group 2 (17.5 %) than in  Group 1 (8.0 %; p=0.0001). In the Group 2 the percentage of  overweight (18.4 %) was higher compared to Group 1 patients (11.7 %; p=0.022). No significant difference in obesity percentage (8.9 vs 5.0 %; p=0.071).  Seventy five percent of children in Group I and the 25% of children in Group 2 (p=0.031) had one or two parents who had reported to skip routinely breakfast. Children with one or both parents used to skip breakfast had a greater odds ratio of 3.04  and  3 respectively of skipping breakfast compared to the children  with parents who had regularly  breakfast (p=0.0002). Compared to the children tested in 2005,  children admitted to   the Giocampus program showed: a significant decrease in breakfasting (22 vs 8 %; p=0.0001), a significant decrease in overweight (18.5 vs 11.7 %; p=0.003) but not in obesity (7.5 vs 5.0 %; p=0.138) status; a significant increase in consumption of cereals (p=0.0001) and fruit (p=0.0001). In conclusion, an intensive breakfast-centred strategy seems to be effective in breakfast promotion and in overweight risk decrease.
Postgraduate School of Pediatrics, University Children Hospital "Pietro Barilla". Giocampus steering committee. maurizio.vanelli@unipr.it.
Maurizio
M
Vanelli
Giorgia
G
Monti
Elio
E
Volta
Viviana
V
Finestrella
Dimitra
D
Gkliati
Marta
M
Cangelosi
Roberto
R
Caragnulo
Marco
M
Vitale
Lisa
L
Ingrosso
Francesca
F
Scazzina
D062408:Breakfast; D002648:Child; D002523:Edible Grain; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012572:School Health Services