Keywords
overweight, Overweight
CHILDHOOD OBESITY, OBESE, CURB
Globally, childhood obesity is a critical public health concern with concrete repercussions on metabolic health later in life. Overweight children in kindergarten were shown to be four times more likely than healthy-weight children to be overweight or obese at fourteenMany strategies have been put in place to curb the current trend in childhood obesity, most of which have focused on behavioural changes at the individual level, such as increasing daily exercise and improving food choices, with low rates of success thus farInterest in school-based nutrition interventions started after the WHO developed the Nutrition-Friendly School Initiative, its framework was developed from scientific evidence and aims to improve nutrition status of school children. It has five main components within the schools: nutritional policies, awareness and capacity building, nutritional/ health promotion and supportive environment and servicesSeveral countries in the Arab region have implemented school-based interventions to decrease childhood obesity and overweight. In Lebanon, Jarrib Baleha ('try without it') was piloted in 2010 in two schools. The intervention was successful in increasing nutritional knowledge, increasing intake of water and decreasing intake of soft drinksIntervention studies having shown positive lifestyle changes have generally combined dietary and physical activity interventions along with improving food choices in school canteens. However, very few have evaluated the role of family involvement on the dietary and physical activity outcomes