Treating Childhood Obesity By Walking: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Aims: The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of walking as a treatment strategy for childhood obesity. Methods and Results: A randomized controlled trial was conducted between 2014 and 2015. Participants were elementary school children aged 6 to 12 years with a percent overweight (%OW) of ≥20%, a childhood obesity criterion in Japan and calculated as (body weight)/(sex-, age-, and height-specific reference weight in Japan) x 100, at the time of registration. All registered children were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. Children whose %OWu003c20% at the start of intervention were excluded from the per-protocol analysis. The primary outcome was a decrease in %OW after 3 months’ intervention. A total of 190 participants with the mean %OW of 32.1 ± 13.1% were randomly assigned to 3 groups; 65 to walking (≥10,000 steps on school holidays), 60 to limiting screen time (ST) (u003c90 min on weekdays and u003c150 min on school holidays), and 65 to a control group (no intervention). All participants comp...