Developing obesity prevention interventions among minority ethnic children in schools and places of worship: The DEAL study

Background: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern with serious implications for the sustainability of healthcare systems. Studies in the US and UK have shown that ethnicity is consistently associated with childhood obesity, with Black African origin girls in particular being more vulnerable to overweight and obesity than their White peers. However, little is known about what promotes or hinders engagement with prevention programmes among ethnic minority children. Methods: The aim of DEAL was to assess the feasibility, efficacy and cultural acceptability of child- and family-based interventions to reduce risk factors for childhood and adolescent obesity among ethnic minorities. It investigated the use of a population approach (schools) and a targeted approach (places of worship). We used a mixture of focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and structured questionnaires to explore what children, parents, grandparents, teachers and religious leaders think hinder and promote engagement with healthy eating and active living choices. We assessed the cultural appropriateness of validated measures of physical activity, dietary behaviour and self efficacy, and of potential elements of interventions informed by the data collected. Results: Analysis of the data is ongoing but the emergent findings suggest that while the school setting may be better for the main implementation of healthy lifestyle interventions, places of worship provide valuable opportunities for family and culturally specific support for implementation. Conclusion: The study will enhance such policy on a range of government initiatives by developing the evidence base about culturally acceptable interventions to reduce the risk of obesity in children. Conflict of interest: None disclosed. Funding: Research relating to this abstract was funded by the Public Health Research Consortium, UK.