Body mass Index of children and adolescent participants in a voucher program designed to incentivise participation in sport and physical activity: A cross-sectional study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101349Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • The Active Kids program reached 75,927 children who were overweight or obese.

  • The program reached approximately 25% of all eligible children who were overweight and obese.

  • The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.2% and 7.6%, respectively.

  • There was a clear socio-economic gradient for obesity prevalence.

Abstract

There has been limited population-level success in tackling overweight and obesity. The Active Kids program is a universal intervention that aims to increase participation in structured physical activity and sport among children and adolescents in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This study examined the prevalence of overweight and obesity across subgroups and by social disadvantage in this large broadly representative sample. A cross-sectional study was conducted including all children (n = 671,375) who registered for an Active Kids Program voucher in 2018. The child’s height and weight were obtained from an online registration form. Among children and adolescents who registered in the Active Kids Program, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.2% and 7.6%, respectively. A large number of children and adolescents who lived in the most disadvantaged areas (n = 99,583; 14.8%) registered for the program. There was a clear socio-economic gradient for obesity prevalence across areas of increasing disadvantage, with children and adolescents living in the most disadvantaged area being 1.87 (95% CIs 1.82, 1.93) times more likely to be overweight or obese. The Active Kids program successfully reached a substantial proportion of children who are overweight and obese from socio-economically disadvantaged areas, providing financial support and opportunities for these children to participate in structured sport and physical activity. However, the program did not reach all children, and additional physical activity promotion strategies may be needed in a comprehensive approach. Nonetheless, these findings support government investment in reaching children who are overweight or obese with large-scale programs.

Keywords

Child obesity
Physical activity
Sport
Up-scaling
Translational research

Abbreviations

ARIA
Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia
BMI
Body mass index
HEAL
Healthy Eating Active Living
IOTF
International Obesity Task Force
NSW
New South Wales
SEIFA
Socio-Economic Index for Area
SPANS
School Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey
WHO
World Health Organisation

Cited by (0)