Introduction

Currently, the consumption of sweetened beverages has increased and is associated with weight gain, mainly among childhood population. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a physical activity program and extracurricular nutritional education on anthropometric variables and eating habits in school-age children.

Material and Methods

The study design was quasi-experimental pre/post with control group where a non-probabilistic convenience sampling was performed for a cohort of 35 children, separated into two groups, experimental (EG, n=21) and control (CG, n=14). The height, weight and waist circumference were assessed, and a beverage consumption frequency questionnaire was employed. The intervention program lasted 9 months with physical activity sessions of 50 minutes and 10 minutes of nutritional education with a frequency of 5 days per week. A 2x2 variance analysis was used to determine the statistical significance (p≤0.05) for the effect of the intervention in both groups.

Results

The participants presented an increase in the height (GE: 0.04m, p=0.0001; GC: 0.04m, p=0.0001), body mass (EG: 2.2kg, p=0.0001; CG: 1.1kg, p=0.0001) and waist circumference only was increased in the EG (2.8cm, p=0.02), nevertheless the BMI did not significantly change in both groups. The EG decreased sugar consumption (14.7g/day, p=0.05) and kilocalories (63.4kcal, p=0.05) from beverages, while in the CG no significant differences were found.

Conclusions

It was observed that the program of physical activity and nutritional education had a positive effect on eating habits of school-aged children by reducing the consumption of sweetened beverages, as well the intake of sugar and kilocalories coming from them.

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