Background: Obesity is the most common chronic pediatric disease in westernized, especially low socioeconomic\r\nsocieties. We previously demonstrated the beneficial effects of a randomized prospective school-based health\r\neducation program for low socioeconomic status Arab-Israeli kindergarten children.\r\nMethods: To examine whether the effects of our program on nutrition and physical activity knowledge and\r\npreferences, anthropometric measures, and fitness persisted one year after the end of intervention.\r\nWe were able to perform the one year follow-up in 203 kindergarten children (59% of our 342 original cohort;\r\n85 control, 118 intervention).\r\nResults: At one year following the intervention BMI and BMI percentiles approached baseline level in both the\r\nintervention (16.4�±0.2 kg/m2 and 61.5�±2.4%, respectively) and control group participants (16.5�±0.2 kg/m2 and\r\n58.5�±3.3%, respectively). Yet, a year after the end of the intervention, the decrease in BMI%ile from baseline was\r\nsignificantly greater in the intervention group (-7.8�±1.5 vs. -1.9�±1.9, p<0.012). Nutritional and physical activity\r\nknowledge and preferences, and physical fitness remained significantly elevated in the intervention compared to\r\nthe control group participants.\r\nConclusions: The beneficial effects of a kindergarten dietary-physical activity intervention applied by the\r\nkindergarten teachers, on nutrition and physical activity knowledge and preferences, fitness, and BMI percentile\r\nwere evident one year after the end of intervention. This promising program may play a role in health\r\npromotion, prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.
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