Selamat, Rusidah and Aziz, Nur Azlina Abdul and Raib, Junidah and Zulkafly, Norlida and Mohamad, WNurul Ashikin W. and Ismail, Ainan Nasrina and Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid and Zain, Fuziah Md. and Ishak, Zahari and Yahya, Abqariyah and Mokhtar, Abdul Halim (2025) Effects of a nutrition education intervention on nutrition knowledge and attitude among overweight and obese primary schoolchildren: a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 24 (SUPPL1). p. 3629. ISSN 1471-2458, DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21671-1.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
BackgroundSchool-based obesity interventions are a promising strategy for combating childhood obesity. In this study, we examined the efficacy of the ``My Body is Fit and Fabulous at School'' (MyBFF@school) program with a nutrition education intervention (NEI) for improving nutrition knowledge and attitude among overweight and obese primary schoolchildren.MethodsA school-based cluster randomized controlled trial of the MyBFF@school obesity intervention program was conducted among overweight and obese schoolchildren aged 9-11. Out of 1,196 eligible government primary schools in central Peninsular Malaysia, 23 were randomly assigned into seven intervention schools (647 children) and 16 control schools (750 children). A standard nutrition education module was delivered for 24 weeks to the intervention group, whereas children in the control group followed only the currently existing school nutrition education program. The main outcome measures were nutrition knowledge and attitude scores. Changes of nutrition knowledge and attitude scores from follow up until end of 6 months was assessed using the mixed effect model taking into account the cluster effect.ResultsA total of 563 children in the intervention group and 482 in the control group completed the six-month program and were included in the analysis. The overall nutrition knowledge score was significantly higher in the intervention group (adjusted mean difference (AMD): 4.75%, p=0.028\textbackslashdocumentclass12pt]{minimal} \textbackslashusepackage{amsmath} \textbackslashusepackage{wasysym} \textbackslashusepackage{amsfonts} \textbackslashusepackage{amssymb} \textbackslashusepackage{amsbsy} \textbackslashusepackage{mathrsfs} \textbackslashusepackage{upgreek} \textbackslashsetlength{\textbackslashoddsidemargin}{-69pt} \textbackslashbegin{document}$$p=0.028$$\textbackslashend{doc ument}) after controlling for mean nutrition knowledge score at baseline, gender, location school group (intervention vs control) and ethnicity. There was also a significant improvement in the nutrition knowledge score with AMD among boys (6.02%), urban children (8.07%), and non-Malays (10.4%). In contrast, after controlling for mean nutrition attitude score at baseline, gender, location, school group (intervention vs control) and ethnicity, there was no significant difference in the nutrition attitude scores between the intervention and the control groups in the overall, gender, location and ethnicity.ConclusionsThe MyBFF@school program with an adjunct NEI improves the overall knowledge on nutrition but has no positive effect on the nutrition attitude of younger schoolchildren, necessitating additional improvements.Trial registrationClinical trial number: NCT04155255, November 7, 2019 (Retrospective registered). National Medical Research Register: NMRR-13-439-16563. Registered July 23, 2013. The intervention program was approved by the Medical Research and Ethics Committee (MREC), Ministry of Health Malaysia and Educational Planning and Research Division (EPRD), Ministry of Education Malaysia. It was funded by the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Kementerian Kesihatan (MY), Ministry of Education, Tahir Bin Aris as the coordinator of MyBFF@school project |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Nutrition education intervention; Childhood obesity; Primary schoolchildren; Cluster randomized controlled trial |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Paediatrics Department Faculty of Medicine > Social & Preventive Medicine Faculty of Medicine > Sport Medicine Department Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science (formerly known as Centre for Sports & Exercise Sciences) |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2025 04:47 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Apr 2025 04:47 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/47919 |
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