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  • Adiposity and response to an obesity prevention intervention in Pakistani and Bangladeshi primary school boys and girls: a secondary analysis using the BEACHeS feasibility study

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Nutrition and metabolism
Research
Adiposity and response to an obesity prevention intervention in Pakistani and Bangladeshi primary school boys and girls: a secondary analysis using the BEACHeS feasibility study
  1. Geneviève Cezard1,
  2. Narinder Bansal2,
  3. Raj Bhopal1,
  4. Miranda Pallan3,
  5. Paramjit Gill4,
  6. Timothy Barrett5,
  7. Peymane Adab3
  1. 1Edinburgh Migration, Ethnicity and Health Research Group (EMEHRG), Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  2. 2Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health & Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, UK
  3. 3Unit of Public Health, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  4. 4Primary Care Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  5. 5School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  1. Correspondence to Geneviève Cezard; genevieve.cezard{at}ed.ac.uk

Abstract

Objectives As a secondary analysis of the BEACHeS study, we hypothesised there would be sex differences in Pakistani and Bangladeshi school children when examining adiposity and their response to an obesity intervention.

Design The Birmingham healthy Eating and Active lifestyle for CHildren Study (BEACHeS) was designed as a Phase II feasibility study of a complex intervention.

Setting 8 primary schools with predominantly South Asian children in Birmingham, UK

Participants 1090 pupils (aged 5–7 years old) from school year 1 and 2 were allocated at school level to receive an intervention. A total of 574 were enrolled in the study with consent. We focused on the 466 children of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin (50.6% boys).

Intervention Delivered between 2007 and 2009, the 1-year obesity prevention intervention targeted school and family-based dietary and physical activities.

Primary and secondary outcome measures and analysis Adiposity measures including skinfold thickness were compared by sex at baseline and follow-up. Gains in adiposity measures were compared between control and intervention arms in boys and in girls. Measures were compared using two-sample t tests and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank sum tests according to normality distribution.

Results At baseline, girls had larger skinfold measures at all sites compared to boys although body mass index (BMI) was similar (eg, median subscapular skinfold 6.6 mm vs 5.7 mm; p<0.001). At follow-up, girls in the intervention group gained less weight and adiposity compared to respective controls (p<0.05 for weight, BMI, waist circumference, central and thigh skinfold) with a median total skinfold gain of 7.0 mm in the control group compared to 0.3 mm in the intervention group.

Conclusions Our secondary analysis suggests differences in adiposity in Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls and boys and in the effect of the intervention reducing adiposity in girls. These preliminary findings indicate that including sex differences should be examined in future trials.

Trial registration number ISRCTN51016370; Post-results.

  • adiposity
  • intervention
  • South Asian children
  • sex
  • skinfold thickness measurements

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-007907

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