Objective To determine if a school based educational
programme aimed at reducing consumption of carbonated
drinks can prevent excessive weight gain in children.
Design Cluster randomised controlled trial.
Setting Six primary schools in southwest England.
Participants 644 children aged 7-11 years.
Intervention Focused educational programme on nutrition
over one school year.
Main outcome measures Drink consumption and number of
overweight and obese children.
Results Consumption of carbonated drinks over three days
decreased by 0.6 glasses (average glass size 250 ml) in the
intervention group but increased by 0.2 glasses in the control
group (mean difference 0.7, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 1.3).
At 12 months the percentage of overweight and obese children
increased in the control group by 7.5%, compared with a
decrease in the intervention group of 0.2% (mean difference
7.7%, 2.2% to 13.1%).
Conclusion A targeted, school based education programme
produced a modest reduction in the number of carbonated
drinks consumed, which was associated with a reduction in the
number of overweight and obese children.