Research Article
Effect of 12-Week Lifestyle Intervention on Behavioral, Anthropometry and Biochemical Profile of School Children in Chandigarh, India
Prabhushankar T1, Thakur JS1*, Jaswal N1, Bharti B2 and Bhansali A31School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
2Advanced Pediatric Center, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
3Department of Endocrinology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India
- *Corresponding Author:
- Jarnail Singh Thakur, Professor
School of Public Health
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
Chandigarh, India
Tel: +91-946-360-2173
E-mail: jsthakur64@gmail.com
Received date: July 01, 2015 Accepted date: September 16, 2015 Published date: September 29, 2015
Citation: Prabhushankar T, Thakur JS, Jaswal N, Bharti B, Bhansali A (2015) Effect of 12-Week Lifestyle Intervention on Behavioral, Anthropometry and Biochemical Profile of School Children in Chandigarh, India. J Community Med Health Educ 5:367. doi: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000367
Copyright: © 2015 Prabhushankar T, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective: The present study assessed the effect of a 12 weeks lifestyle intervention program on health behavior, anthropometric measures and biochemical profile in selected schools.
Study Design: A community-based intervention study. 8 schools were randomly allotted to control or intervention group. Sample size of 180 students in each group were assessed for health behavior, anthropometry and biochemical profile. Students in intervention group were subjected to lifestyle intervention comprising of life skill sessions, lifestyle diary, physical activity period daily, healthier option in school canteen, etc., followed by post assessment.
Results: 384 students were enrolled (191 from intervention and 193 from control schools). 97% of them were evaluated at the end of the intervention. A significant increase in the behavior of children playing out in free time was found (p<0.05). Significant number of children started watching television for <2 hours (p<.0001.)Proportion of children who opted for fruits in case food was not prepared at home increased from 57.4% to 67.9% (p<.05). No significant changes in the biochemical and anthropometric parameters were found.
Conclusions: 12-week lifestyle intervention is feasible in school settings and helped in changing health behavior of the students. Longer duration of intervention may be required for change in anthropometry and biochemical profile.
