Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE
Background: Social media may be an effective medium by which parents could be trained to promote healthy eating behaviour and physical activity for their children. This trial evaluates the effectiveness of a family-based intervention using social media in combination with face-to-face sessions - the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/1/Family%20based%20intervention%20using%20face-to-face%20sessions%20.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848857190296715264 |
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| author | Ahmad, Norliza Mohd Shariff, Zalilah Mukhtar, Firdaus Lye, Munn Sann |
| author_facet | Ahmad, Norliza Mohd Shariff, Zalilah Mukhtar, Firdaus Lye, Munn Sann |
| author_sort | Ahmad, Norliza |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: Social media may be an effective medium by which parents could be trained to promote healthy eating behaviour and physical activity for their children. This trial evaluates the effectiveness of a family-based intervention using social media in combination with face-to-face sessions - the REDUCE (REorganise Diet, Unnecessary sCreen time and Exercise) programme - on adiposity of Malay children. Methods: Five primary schools in an urban area in Selangor, Malaysia participated in this two-arm randomized controlled field trial. Participants were parents (n = 134) and their primary school-going children 8-11 years of age who were either overweight or obese. These parent-child dyads were randomly allocated to intervention and wait-list control groups and were blinded to group assignment. The intervention was a four-week training programme using two face-to-face sessions and two Facebook sessions followed by weekly booster sessions over a three-month period using WhatsApp. The primary outcome was body mass index (BMI) z-score. Height, body weight, waist circumference and percentage of body fat were measured by blinded assessors. Data were collected at baseline (T1), immediately post-training (T2) and at three- (T3) and six-month post training (T4) and were analysed using generalized linear mixed modelling adjusted for covariates to estimate the intervention effects. Subgroup analysis was conducted for overweight and obese children. Results: Ninety-one percent of parents completed the study, 64 in intervention group and 58 in wait-list group. At the sixth month post-training, BMI z-scores were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the wait-list group, for the all children (overweight and obese children) and within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 517) = 2.817, p = 0.010) and (F(6, 297) = 6.072, p < 0.001) respectively. For waist circumference percentile and body fat percentage, the intervention group experienced a significant reduction compared to the wait-list group, within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 297) = 3.998, p = 0.001) and within the overweight subgroup (F(6, 201) = 2.526, p = 0.022). Conclusions: The four-month REDUCE intervention programme was effective in reducing childhood adiposity. Further research using this approach needs to be conducted including cost-effectiveness studies before implementing it in a child obesity prevention programme. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:53:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-72734 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:53:37Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | BMC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-727342021-01-30T00:57:29Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/ Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE Ahmad, Norliza Mohd Shariff, Zalilah Mukhtar, Firdaus Lye, Munn Sann Background: Social media may be an effective medium by which parents could be trained to promote healthy eating behaviour and physical activity for their children. This trial evaluates the effectiveness of a family-based intervention using social media in combination with face-to-face sessions - the REDUCE (REorganise Diet, Unnecessary sCreen time and Exercise) programme - on adiposity of Malay children. Methods: Five primary schools in an urban area in Selangor, Malaysia participated in this two-arm randomized controlled field trial. Participants were parents (n = 134) and their primary school-going children 8-11 years of age who were either overweight or obese. These parent-child dyads were randomly allocated to intervention and wait-list control groups and were blinded to group assignment. The intervention was a four-week training programme using two face-to-face sessions and two Facebook sessions followed by weekly booster sessions over a three-month period using WhatsApp. The primary outcome was body mass index (BMI) z-score. Height, body weight, waist circumference and percentage of body fat were measured by blinded assessors. Data were collected at baseline (T1), immediately post-training (T2) and at three- (T3) and six-month post training (T4) and were analysed using generalized linear mixed modelling adjusted for covariates to estimate the intervention effects. Subgroup analysis was conducted for overweight and obese children. Results: Ninety-one percent of parents completed the study, 64 in intervention group and 58 in wait-list group. At the sixth month post-training, BMI z-scores were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the wait-list group, for the all children (overweight and obese children) and within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 517) = 2.817, p = 0.010) and (F(6, 297) = 6.072, p < 0.001) respectively. For waist circumference percentile and body fat percentage, the intervention group experienced a significant reduction compared to the wait-list group, within the obese subgroup ((F(6, 297) = 3.998, p = 0.001) and within the overweight subgroup (F(6, 201) = 2.526, p = 0.022). Conclusions: The four-month REDUCE intervention programme was effective in reducing childhood adiposity. Further research using this approach needs to be conducted including cost-effectiveness studies before implementing it in a child obesity prevention programme. BMC 2018-08 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/1/Family%20based%20intervention%20using%20face-to-face%20sessions%20.pdf Ahmad, Norliza and Mohd Shariff, Zalilah and Mukhtar, Firdaus and Lye, Munn Sann (2018) Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE. Nutrition Journal, 17 (1). pp. 1-13. ISSN 1475-2891 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30071855/ 10.1186/s12937-018-0379-1 |
| spellingShingle | Ahmad, Norliza Mohd Shariff, Zalilah Mukhtar, Firdaus Lye, Munn Sann Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title | Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title_full | Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title_fullStr | Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title_full_unstemmed | Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title_short | Family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve Malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the Malaysian REDUCE |
| title_sort | family-based intervention using face-to-face sessions and social media to improve malay primary school children's adiposity: a randomized controlled field trial of the malaysian reduce |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/72734/1/Family%20based%20intervention%20using%20face-to-face%20sessions%20.pdf |