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Outcome results for the Ma’alahi Youth Project, a Tongan community-based obesity prevention programme for adolescents

Fotu, K. F., Millar, L., Mavoa, H., Kremer, P., Moodie, M., Snowdon, W., Utter, J., Vivili, P., Schultz, J. T., Malakellis, M., McCabe, M. P., Roberts, G. and Swinburn, B. A. 2011, Outcome results for the Ma’alahi Youth Project, a Tongan community-based obesity prevention programme for adolescents, Obesity reviews, vol. 12, no. Suppl. 2, Special Issue : The Pacific Obesity Prevention In Communities Project (OPIC), pp. 41-50.

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Title Outcome results for the Ma’alahi Youth Project, a Tongan community-based obesity prevention programme for adolescents
Author(s) Fotu, K. F.
Millar, L.
Mavoa, H.
Kremer, P.
Moodie, M.
Snowdon, W.
Utter, J.
Vivili, P.
Schultz, J. T.
Malakellis, M.
McCabe, M. P.
Roberts, G.
Swinburn, B. A.
Journal name Obesity reviews
Volume number 12
Issue number Suppl. 2
Season Special Issue : The Pacific Obesity Prevention In Communities Project (OPIC)
Start page 41
End page 50
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell
Place of publication Oxford, England
Publication date 2011-11
ISSN 1467-7881
Keyword(s) adolescence
intervention
obesity
Tonga
Summary Tonga has a very high prevalence of obesity with steep increases during youth, making adolescence a critical time for obesity prevention. The Ma’alahi Youth Project, the Tongan arm of the Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities project, was a 3-year, quasi-experimental study of community-based interventions among adolescents in three districts on Tonga’s main island (Tongatapu) compared to the island of Vava’u. Interventions focused mainly on capacity building, social marketing, education and activities promoting physical activity and local fruit and vegetables. The evaluation used a longitudinal design (mean follow-up duration 2.4 years). Both intervention and comparison groups showed similar large increases in overweight and obesity prevalence (10.1% points, n = 815; 12.6% points, n = 897 respectively). Apart from a small relative decrease in percentage body fat in the intervention group (-1.5%, P < 0.0001), there were no differences in outcomes for any anthropometric variables between groups and behavioural changes did not follow a clear positive pattern. In conclusion, the Ma’alahi Youth Project had no impact on the large increase in prevalence of overweight and obesity among Tongan adolescents. Community-based interventions in such populations with high obesity prevalence may require more intensive or longer interventions, as well as specific strategies targeting the substantial socio-cultural barriers to achieving a healthy weight.
Language eng
Field of Research 111704 Community Child Health
Socio Economic Objective 920401 Behaviour and Health
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2011, The Authors Obesity Reviews
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30039777

Document type: Journal Article
Collections: School of Psychology
Population Health
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Created: Tue, 01 Nov 2011, 12:29:08 EST by Jane Moschetti