Dissemination of a School-based Obesity Intervention for Mexican Americans: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: We compared the effectiveness of research staff versus physical education/health (PE/Health) instructors to disseminate a school-based weight management intervention. Methods: Overweight/obese Mexican-American middle school students (N = 198) were randomized to a research staff-led intervention (SLI) or dissemination (DS) condition. The SLI condition received a daily intensive obesity intervention taught by research staff, and the DS condition received the same curriculum led by a PE/Health instructor. We used repeated measures analyses of variance to evaluate differences between conditions in standardized body mass index (zBMI) at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Results: Students in both conditions demonstrated a significant decrease in zBMI over time. Twelve-month weight maintenance benefitted SLI participants over DS participants (p < .01). Conclusion: Disseminating an obesity intervention through PE/Health instructors is feasible.