Intervention effects of a kindergarten-based health promotion programme on obesity related behavioural outcomes and BMI percentiles

In recent decades, prevalence of childhood overweight has increased worldwide and became a public health concern. One reason is children's insufficient engagement in physical activity (PA) which may lead to deficient motor skills, which are interdependent. Therefore, early health promotion such as the kindergarten-based health promotion programme “Join the Healthy Boat” is necessary. In order to evaluate the programme's effectiveness on children's BMI percentiles (BMIPCT), PA and endurance capacity, a randomised controlled trial including intervention (IG) and control group (CG) was conducted. 973 kindergarten children (3.6 ± 0.6 years; 47.1% male) in 57 kindergartens were assessed at baseline and 558 of them at follow-up. Anthropometrics and endurance capability (3-minute-run) were assessed on site. PA behaviour and socio-economic data were assessed using parental report. Linear regression models were used to determine intervention effects for all health outcomes, adjusting for baseline values, age, gender, BMIPCT and socio-economic variables. After one year, a significant positive intervention effect on children's BMIPCT was found (p ≤ 0.04). Children in the IG spent significantly more days in sufficient PA than children in the CG (3.1 ± 2.1 days vs. 2.5 ± 1.9 days; p ≤ 0.005). Children in the IG performed significantly better in the three minute endurance run than their counterparts in the CG (305.8 ± 46.2 m vs. 286.9 ± 43.2 m; p ≤ 0.001). This teacher-centred health promotion using a low-dose bottom-up approach with action alternatives achieved significant positive effects in the reduction of BMIPCT and significant increases in endurance capacity and daily PA. The programme is therefore ideal for integrating health promotion more intensively into the everyday life of children.