title: A randomized trial of multiple interventions for childhood obesity in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Family- and school-based interventions for childhood obesity have been widely applied; however, the prevalence of childhood obesity remains high. The purpose of this RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of a family-individual-school-based comprehensive intervention model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cluster RCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen primary schools were selected from 26 primary schools in a district of Shanghai, China, and then randomly divided into intervention and control groups with seven schools in each. The trial started with first-grade students. A total of 1,287 students in the intervention group and 1,159 in the control group were studied overall.
  
  
  METHODS
  The baseline study was conducted in January 2011, and family-individual-school-based interventions started in March 2011 and ended in December 2013 for intervention group students. Three follow-up studies were conducted in January 2012, January 2013, and January 2014. Data analysis was conducted in March 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students' weight and height were measured. The prevalence of obesity/overweight and BMI z-scores were calculated and analyzed using a generalized estimating equation approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity declined from 28.92% in 2011 to 24.77% in 2014, with a difference of 4.15% in the intervention group compared with a 0.03% decline (from 30.71% to 30.68%) in the control group. The intervention group had significantly lower odds of developing obesity or overweight and had decreased average BMI z-scores compared with the control group, especially for obese or overweight students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The family-individual-school-based comprehensive intervention model is effective for controlling childhood obesity and overweight.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Juan
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: smwang@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shu-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*