A simple afterschool program encouraging children to drink fewer sugary beverages and more water was linked to a healthier BMI trend over 12 months.
The randomized study, published in JAMA Network Open, included 437 children ages 8 to 13 at Boys & Girls Club sites across Massachusetts.
Children in the six-week H2GO! program participated in activities such as taste tests, demonstrations showing how much sugar is in popular drinks, creative projects and take-home activities with their families.
Rather than asking families to change many habits at once, the program focused largely on one goal: replacing more sugary drinks with water.
A year later, children who participated in the program had a more favorable change in BMI than children who received usual afterschool programming. Researchers used a measure that accounts for normal changes in body size as children grow.
“One of the most striking findings from this study is that we were able to shift our study participants’ BMI in a healthier direction at a time when childhood obesity trends nationally were moving the opposite way,” said study author Monica Wang of Boston University School of Public Health.
The results do not mean the program caused children to lose weight. The difference between the groups was modest, and children began the study at a range of body sizes.
Researchers also found that children in the program reported drinking fewer sugary beverages and more water after 12 months. But those changes were not significantly different from the comparison group.
That means researchers cannot say that drinking less soda, sports drinks or other sweetened beverages was solely responsible for the BMI difference.
The program may have influenced other habits as well, or its combination of education, family activities and support from Boys & Girls Club staff may have played a role.
In additional analyses, about 29% of children in the program moved into a lower BMI category over the year, compared with about 18% of children in the comparison group. Those findings were exploratory and need to be interpreted cautiously.
The study has some limitations. Beverage intake was reported by the children themselves, only about 69% completed the 12-month follow-up and attendance at program sessions averaged about 50%. The trial was also limited to Boys & Girls Clubs in Massachusetts.
Still, the results suggest that relatively simple nutrition programs offered in places children already spend time may help support healthier growth without requiring families to overhaul every aspect of their diets.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. One author reported outside personal fees from Janssen and Sanofi.