Middle-School Based Primary Prevention Trial of Type 2 Diabetes

The HEALTHY study is a randomized prevention trial that investigated the effectiveness of an integrated intervention in middle schools that aimed to moderate risk for type 2 diabetes in children. The trial was conducted at 7 field centers in 42 middle schools, randomly assigned to intervention or control. Student recruitment and baseline data collection occurred during in the first semester of 6th grade (2006); the intervention was implemented the following semester (2007) and continued through 8th grade (2007-2009). For schools that received intervention, the program consisted of four integrated components targeting nutrition, physical education, behavior change initiatives, and educational communications activities that were designed to impact the environment and lifestyle choices of middle school children. The intervention was implemented either school-wide or grade-wide, so all students were exposed; those who provided appropriate informed consent participated in data collection and evaluation. The primary outcome measure was the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 85th percentile). The study found that the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity decreased in both intervention and control schools, with no significant difference between school groups. However, the intervention did result in significantly greater reductions in various indexes of adiposity, including obesity.

Detailed information about the HEALTHY study, including the protocol, intervention materials, and publications, is available at www.healthystudy.org.