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While the adult obesity rate appears to be slowing in the United States, childhood obesity remains historically high, affecting nearly 1 in 5 school-age children. Many efforts to address this persistent health crisis have urged children to make multiple lifestyle changes at once—such as increasing physical activity, improving diet and getting more sleep—but these interventions are often difficult to implement and unrealistic for children and families to sustain.

Interventions that encourage children to make just one dietary change can be a more feasible way to reduce childhood obesity, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers.

Published in JAMA Network Open, the randomized trial found that children participating in a community-based intervention designed to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption had a significantly greater reduction in BMI z-score (zBMI)—a measure used to track BMI in growing children while accounting for age and sex—over 12 months compared with peers in the comparison group.

The intervention, delivered at Boys & Girls Club (BGC) sites across Massachusetts, included interactive educational sessions, youth-created narratives and take-home activities focused on reducing sugary drinks and promoting water.

SSBs, such as regular sodas, fruit-flavored drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks, are the largest source of added sugars in children's diets. These liquid calories do not make children feel full; instead, they contribute to an excess of total daily calories, which can lead to weight gain and raise their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dental decay.

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