Challenges and results of a school-based intervention to manage excess weight among school XXXX in Tunisia 2012-2014.

@entity1 @entity28
BACKGROUND: Obesity is a serious health issue and predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Its prevalence in @entity1 has increased worldwide. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a school-based management program based on healthy lifestyle promotion for @entity28 and overweight adolescents in Sousse, Tunisia. METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental study among overweight and @entity28 school @entity1 enrolled in 7th and 8th grades in Sousse, Tunisia with two groups, intervention and control. The 1-year intervention was based on promoting healthy eating and physical activity through a collective intervention for all recruited @entity1 and an individual intervention only for @entity28 @entity1 who require intensive managing. Data collection was done before, at the end and at a 4-month follow up of the intervention, both in intervention and control groups. RESULTS: The body mass index Z score decreased significantly from pre-intervention to post-intervention (1.89  0.57 to 1.76  0.63, p<0.001) and from post-intervention to the follow-up (1.76  0.63 to 1.55  0.68, p<0.001) in the intervention group. In the control group, it decreased significantly from pre-intervention to post-intervention but not significantly from post-intervention to follow-up assessment. Calorie intake decreased significantly both in intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: This project began with introducing a new culture of health management in schools on one side and with increasing awareness of the importance of @entity28 prevention and treatment. The support of authorities for this type of action is very important to guarantee its sustainability.
