Web-based Program Encouraging Healthier Lifestyle Has Little Impact On Adolescents

Dutch researchers who tested a Web-based computer-tailored intervention designed to increase exercise and promote healthy eating among 883 adolescent students (12 to 13 years of age) found that the program did not impact long-term behavior but may have had some positive short-term effects. The program encouraged drinking less sugar-sweetened beverages, eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and increasing physical activity. The researchers concluded that the intervention showed some positive short-term effects on diet but no effect either way on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Moreover, the intervention had no effect on body mass index, waist circumference, or percentage of students being overweight or obese.