Results of a 7-Week School-Based Physical Activity and Nutrition Pilot Program on Health-Related Parameters in Primary School Children in Southern Spain.

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine the effect of nutrition education combined with sessions of vigorous extracurricular physical activity (VEPA) on the improvement of health related parameters in children in primary education. The sample group consisted of 54 children in the fifth year of primary education divided into two groups: an intervention group (IG) of 25 students and a control group (CG) of 29 students. The intervention lasted 7 weeks and consisted of 13 sessions of VEPA combined with sessions of nutritional education that were attended by the students in the IG as well as their parents. During the intervention the IG showed a decrease in the body fat percentage, total cholesterol, cholesterol linked to low-density lipoproteins and blood pressure, together with an increase in cholesterol linked to high-density lipoproteins, and an improvement in the maximum oxygen uptake and dietary intake profile compared with the CG, which showed an increase in the percentage of fats and no significant changes (p < .05) in other parameters. The results of this study provide evidence that a 7-week program of nutritional education and vigorous short-duration physical activity can improve health related parameters in children.