LIHUE — Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have reduced childhood obesity prevalence by 3.9 percent in a clinical trial targeting keiki ages 2 through 8.
And the methods used in the trial are already in practice on Kauai through programs like Get Fit Kauai, which focuses on fostering active, healthy lifestyles.
“One of the biggest programs we’re working toward is our Safe Routes To Schools program,” said Bev Brody of Get Fit Kauai. “That’s a program that gets kids out and walking.”
The UH trial was a community-randomized clinical trial of the Children’s Healthy Living Program (CHL), based at the UH-Manoa. The CHL trial sought to sustainably prevent childhood obesity and decrease numbers of overweight children, and to improve health in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific region.
Throughout Hawaii, 27 communities and 8,371 children were included in the trial.
The rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes among adults in the Pacific are among the highest in the world, and researchers say childhood is the best time for prevention. That’s because childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes track into adulthood.
Obesity among young children in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific region jurisdictions was 14 percent in 2013.
CHL researchers wanted to change the environment in which children are raised as a way to prevent childhood obesity, and used a mixture of policy, education and practical training to lower the rates of childhood obesity among those in their trial.
Nineteen activities targeted six behaviors — sleep time, screen time, physical activity, fruits and vegetables, water and sugar-sweetened beverages.
It’s a promotion of nutritional balance, regular activity and enough sleep, and Brody said all of those things are top priorities for Get Fit Kauai initiatives.
For Get Fit Kauai, it all starts with a walk.
“Safe Routes To School gets kids to be active, but it also has parents and teachers walk to school so they recognize the need for infrastructure to support walking and biking,” Brody said. “The county has become supportive and involved in creating more walkable and bikable neighborhoods.”
She continued: “It’s a program that leads to infrastructure and policy change and we’re hoping to see a reduction in childhood obesity as neighborhoods become safer for everyone to become more active.”
While a reduction in childhood obesity was the primary outcome of the CHL clinical trial, it wasn’t the only effect that researchers noticed.
Those involved in the trial also noticed a lower prevalence of acanthosis nigricans (a skin condition that can indicate diabetes). Sleep quality and duration changed, and researchers noticed changes in dietary patterns and increased physical activity.
“The intervention reduced the prevalence of young child overweight and obesity and acanthosis nigricans,” said Rachel Novotny, principal investigator of the CHL trial and director of the Children’s Healthy Living Center of Excellence in the UH-Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
