Thao-child health programme: Community based intervention for healthy lifestyles promotion to children and families: Results of a cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: childhood obesity is one of the main public health concerns. The multifactorial and multilevel causes require complex interventions such the community based interventions (CBI). Thao-Child Health Programme is a CBI implemented in Spain since 2007. Goal: show the Thao methodology and the latest cross-sectional and longitudinal results. Methods: longitudinal cohort study (4 years of follow- up) and cross sectional study. Results: the longitudinal study found an increase of 1% in the overweight prevalence after a follow-up of 4 years of Thao-Programme implementation in 10 municipalities with 6 697 children involved. The cross-sectional study carried out with 20 636 children from 22 municipalities found a childhood overweight prevalence of 26.6%. Discussion: currently a brake in the increase of childhood overweight prevalence is considered a success due to the high prevalence worldwide. More studies well methodologically performed are needed to know the efficacy of the CBI’s in this field.