News briefs

Anti-obesity programs aren’t working in UK schools

Researchers from the University of Birmingham have found that a year-long anti-obesity program in schools had no noticeable effect on children’s health. The study, published in The BMJ, compared the effectiveness of a lifestyle and healthy eating program (West Midlands Active Lifestyle and Healthy Eating in School Children, or WAVES) with usual practice for preventing childhood obesity. WAVES is a 12-month, school-delivered intervention focused on healthy eating and physical activity in primary school children. Data were gathered from about 1400 6- and 7-year-olds at 54 randomly selected state-run primary schools in the West Midlands, monitored over a 2.5-year period; participating schools were randomised to either intervention or control (control: 28 schools, 778 pupils). At the start of the trial, height and weight were recorded for each child, together with measurements related to body fat, diet and physical activity levels. The program included daily additional physical activity opportunities in schools, a physical activity and healthy eating program in conjunction with local sporting heroes, regular information to parents about local physical activity opportunities, and workshops on healthy cooking for families at schools. At 15 and 30 months, the researchers found no significant difference in weight between children taking part in the program and controls, and no meaningful effect on body fat measurements, diet or physical activity levels. The researchers suggested that “nudge” interventions — for example, financial incentives to prompt healthier behaviour — merited further investigation, but they concluded that school-based motivational, educational approaches “are unlikely to halt the childhood obesity epidemic”.

http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k211

Positive thinking about ageing may lower dementia risk

Older people with more positive beliefs about ageing may be less likely to develop dementia, even if they are genetically predisposed, according to US research published in PLoS One. The APOE ε4 gene variant has previously been identified as a high risk factor for dementia; however, only 47% of APOE ε4 carriers develop the condition. Why the remaining 53% never develop dementia is unknown. Researchers from Yale School of Public Health investigated whether culture-based age beliefs influenced the risk of developing dementia in older people, including those who carry the high risk gene variant. The researchers studied a group of 4765 people, with an average age of 72 years, who were free of dementia at the start of the study. Twenty-six per cent of the participants were carriers of APOE ε4. Over the 4-year study period, the researchers found that APOE ε4 carriers with positive beliefs about ageing (assessed with the five-item attitude toward ageing subscale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale) had a 2.7% risk of developing dementia, compared with 6.1% for those with negative beliefs. “We found that positive age beliefs can reduce the risk of one of the most established genetic risk factors of dementia,” the researchers said. “This makes a case for implementing a public health campaign against ageism and negative age beliefs.” The authors acknowledged that there was the possibility that dementia influenced age beliefs rather than the other way around.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191004