Apples for Health- Obesity Study Shapes Up Kids

A trailblazing new study on childhood obesity shows promise in tackling the epidemic by changing a child�s environment, and hundreds of kids in Somerville have narrower waistlines to show for it.

The project, Shape Up Somerville, analyzed 1,178 children in grades 1 to 3, a third of whom were assigned to a program that overhauled their lifestyles in school and at home, and about 40 percent of whom were overweight.

�What differentiates this study is we took the approach of changing multiple environments within a community,� said Christina D. Economos, the study�s lead investigator, a professor at Tufts University�s School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Parents were given healthy recipes, and coupons for healthy food. They started feeding kids more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, cut down on family time spent in front of the tube in favor of taking walks and other activities. Economos said getting the parents on board was key.

�We were asking them to make changes in their home, and I think they found it difficult but do-able,� she said.

�Even though there was a little bit of protest in the beginning, the kids got used to it,� Economos said.

Children were encouraged to walk to school or their bus stop. In school, teachers started scheduling activity breaks, making gym class more rigorous and scheduling after-school activities to promote health.

The study reports �compelling� results. Because the kids are ever-growing, the result wasn�t a massive weight-loss, but a decrease in body-mass index, sometimes stark enough to put a child once at risk for obesity on track to a healthy weight. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the study is scheduled to be presented tomorrow at a Tufts symposium on health and nutrition.

Economos, a Worcester native who lives in Concord, is now working on a project to spread Somerville�s success to communities all over the nation.