Pacific Region Clinical Trial Successful in Reducing Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Children

In this community-randomized clinical trial, 27 communities and 8,371 children saw a reduction in obesity and overweight by 3.95 percent in the children ages 2 to 8 years old.

The Children's Healthy Living Program (CHL), based at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa was formed in 2011 to deal with the growing trend of obesity in the Pacific region, which ranks the highest for obesity and type 2 diabetes among adults.

To prevent obesity, this program targets early childhood. They believe overweight and obesity in childhood leads right into adulthood. CHL researchers used nineteen activities within communities relying heavily on building strong partnerships. It included policy, environment, messaging, training and targeted six behaviors (sleep time, screen time, physical activity, fruits and vegetables, water and sugar-sweetened beverages).

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Click here to read more in the CHL trial in The Journal of the American Medical Association Network.