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 SOMERVILLE, Mass. (AP) - More fruits and vegetables were added to school lunches. Restaurants offered smaller portions. Crosswalks even got a fresh coat of paint to encourage walking and biking. The whole city of Somerville went on a diet to curb childhood obesity, and researchers say it worked.
Tufts University nutrition experts found public schoolchildren in this Boston suburb avoided gaining about a pound of excess weight compared with their 8-year-old counterparts in two nearby communities. The results of the study were published last week in the journal Obesity.
The report covered the first year of the 2003-04 study involving 1,696 children in first, second and third grades. If other communities take similar steps, the findings could help children avoid becoming overweight as they grow older, said Christina Economos, who led the program called "Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard."
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