Effectiveness of a school-based physical activity intervention on obesity in school children: a nonrandomized controlled trial

Table 2 General characteristics of subjects at baseline

Characteristic	Total	Intervention group	Control group	P value
	(N = 921)	(N = 388)	(N = 533)
Age, mean (SD), y	10.4 (2.2)	10.2 (2.3)	10.6 (2.2)	0.009
Sex, no. (%)
Boys	489 (53.1)	204 (52.6)	285 (53.5)	0.788
Girls	432 (46.9)	184 (47.4)	248 (46.5)
Body mass index, mean (SD), kg/m²	19.59 (4.41)	19.12 (4.28)	19.93 (4.47)	0.006
Overweight/obesity, no. (%)	339 (36.8)	128 (33.0)	211 (39.6)	0.040
Waist circumference, mean (SD), cm^a	67.94 (12.74)	65.68 (12.62)	69.58 (12.58)	<0.001
Skinfold thickness, mean (SD), mm^a
Triceps skinfold	15.08 (7.03)	14.45 (7.28)	15.55 (6.82)	0.019
Subscapular skinfold	12.75 (7.86)	11.94 (8.13)	13.34 (7.61)	0.007
Abdominal skinfold	17.46 (11.80)	15.84 (12.34)	18.64 (11.26)	<0.001
Serum lipids, mean (SD), mmol/L^a
Total cholesterol	3.94 (0.68)	4.02 (0.68)	3.88 (0.68)	0.002
Triglycerides	0.81 (0.41)	0.85 (0.40)	0.79 (0.42)	0.031
HDL-C	1.43 (0.28)	1.46 (0.29)	1.40 (0.28)	0.004
LDL-C	2.38 (0.60)	2.34 (0.58)	2.41 (0.62)	0.088
Fasting glucose, mean (SD), mmol/L^a	4.79 (0.49)	4.99 (0.46)	4.65 (0.45)	<0.001
Duration of MVPA (min/day)^b	45.8 (55.1)	44.7 (45.7)	46.6 (60.7)	0.627
In school	29.0 (35.2)	27.4 (26.0)	30.1 (40.3)	0.283
Out of school	16.8 (30.1)	17.2 (28.6)	16.4 (31.1)	0.716

^aDenominators varied because of missing data. (In intervention group, 2 missed in waist circumference, 4 missed in serum lipids and fasting glucose; in control group, 1 missed in waist circumference and skinfold thickness, 3 missed in serum lipids and fasting glucose).
^bSubjects with complete 7-day records were included in analysis (334 in intervention group, 483 in control group).
HDL-C: high density lipoprotein cholesterol.
LDL-C: low density lipoprotein cholesterol.
MVPA: moderate to vigorous physical activity.

ISSN: 1471-2458