Schools, parents and grandparents hold key to unlocking China’s obesity problem

Over 30 million Chinese children, aged between seven and 18, are overweight or obese - placing them at greater risk of an early death and this number is set to rise to 50 million by 2030, caused in part by the role grandparents play in childcare. Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol worked with Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, enlisting 1,641 six-year-old children across 40 primary schools in Guangzhou to evaluate the effectiveness of the CHIRPY DRAGON programme in tackling childhood obesity. The 12-month randomised trial promoted physical activity and healthy eating behaviours among the children - discovering significant reduction in weight gain among those participating in the CHIRPY DRAGON programme, as well as higher consumption of fruit and vegetables, less screen-based sedentary activity and more physical activity. Academics published their findings in PLoS Medicine today [26 November], noting that health benefits were more marked in girls than boys, as female pupils gained less body fat than boys. The study was part of the wider CHIRPY DRAGON programme (CHInese pRimary school children PhYsical activity and DietaRy behAviour chanGe InterventiON), which has involved over 61,000 children at 43 primary schools across Guangzhou. Dr Bai Li conceived and managed the CHIRPY DRAGON study to completion at the University of Birmingham and now works in the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Bristol. She said: "This study shows that an evidence-based obesity prevention programme delivered through schools may offer a cost-effective way of reducing the emerging epidemic of childhood obesity in China.