Impact of Family YMCA Membership on Childhood Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Effectiveness Trial

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Figure 1.
Participant flow diagram comparing nutrition class only to nutrition class plus family membership to the YMCA. BMI, body mass index.
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Figure 2.
Distribution of body mass index (BMI) percentile at baseline in (top) control (n = 36) and (bottom) treatment (n = 30) groups.
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Figure 3.
Distribution of change in body mass index (BMI) in control (top) and treatment (bottom) groups.
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Figure 4.
Distribution of change in body mass index (BMI) in treatment group, by attendance at YMCA.
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Figure 5.
Change in body mass index (BMI) (top) and weight (bottom) decreased as a function of the number of visits to the YMCA (n = 27).

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants

	Control (n = 30)	Treatment (n = 36)
Age, years (mean [SD])	10.6 (3.4)	10.6 (3.9)
Grade, year (median)	5	5
Female (%)	60	42
BMI percentile (median [range])	99.0 (93–99)	99.0 (91–99)
Bilingual household (%)	20	11
Income <$20,000 (%)	80	69
Parental high school education (%)	73	70
Other household members (median)	3	2
Any members overweight (%)	90	82
Number members overweight (median)	1	1

Table 2.

Self-reported Type and Quantity of Food Groups During First and Last Nutrition Class

	Baseline (n = 29)	Exit (n = 14)	Effect Size	Within-Subject Comparisons
Food Type Score^* (mean [SD])				No Change	Improved	Worsened
Vegetables	1.5 (0.9)	1.7 (1.0)	0.2	9	2	1
Fruit	1.4 (0.7)	1.4 (0.5)	0.0	6	2	3
Breads and cereals	1.9 (0.6)	1.7 (0.6)	−0.3	8	3	1
Milk products	1.9 (0.8)	1.8 (0.8)	−0.1	5	4	2
Meat products	2.0 (0.9)	2.2 (0.7)	0.3	5	4	3
Snacks or sweets	2.6 (0.8)	2.1 (1.0)	−0.6	7	4	0
Dressings or sauces	2.2 (1.0)	1.7 (1.0)	−0.5	8	3	1
Beverages	2.3 (0.8)	1.5 (0.7)	−1.1	3	8	1
Number of servings (median)				No Change	Fewer Servings	More Servings
Vegetables	1–2	1–2		7	2	2
Fruit	1–2	1–2		6	2	4
Breads and cereals	1–4	1–4		9	1	2
Milk products	3–4	1–2		6	3	3
Meat products	3–4	1–2		7	5	0
Snacks or sweets	1–2	1–2		5	5	2

* Within each food group, 1 = nutrient-dense, 2 = intermediate, 3 = calorie-dense.

Table 3.

Weight-based Measures at Baseline and End of Study

* Number of visits (of 6 scheduled) attended by patient, with height and weight data.
† No difference between groups; Fisher's exact test, P = .17.
BMI, body mass index; AMA, American Medical Association.