Sugar-sweetened Beverage Intake Substitution by Water to Prevent Overweight in Mexican Children

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children have increased in recent years and this has been associated with replacing plain water intake by sugar-sweetened beverages. Because of this, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a school-based intervention that aimed to replace sugar-sweetened beverages by water. A randomized community trial including 314 children aged 9-11 years from three public schools of the State of Hidalgo, Mexico was performed. Schools were randomized to intervention (two schools from municipality of Apan; six classes with 146 participants) or control group (one school from municipality of Emiliano Zapata; six classes with 168 participants) and followed during 6 months. Intervention included to place water filters at school and classroom lessons to increase water consumption and decreasing sugar-sweetened beverages.