Educación alimentaria y nutricional para reducir la obesidad en escolares de Panamá: Protocolo de estudio

Overweight in school-age children represents a growing public health problem in Panama. The objective is to develop and validate an intervention program in food and nutrition education (FNE) against overweight and obesity in school-age children in Panama from the perspective of an intersectoral public policy in health and education. The intervention is based on behavior changes under the socio-ecological model that favors the adoption of healthier dietary practices and lifestyles. This is a study in 768 school-age children of quasi-experimental, pre-test and posttest, prospective and non-controlled design, in public education institutions in three districts of Panama West Province: La Chorrera, Capira and Chame. Five schools were selected, the Victoria D'Spinay and La Herradura schools in the District of La Chorrera, the Hernando Barcenas school in the District of Capira and the El Espavé and Berta Elida Fernández schools in the Chame District. The protocol was registered in the international test platform No. ISRCTN28920505. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, nutritional and food data will be obtained; of food security; and of knowledge, attitude, perception and behavior on food and healthy lifestyles from March to December 2019 during the implementation of the intersectoral program called "Healthy Schools" of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education of Panama. The data will be described and compared using parametric and non-parametric statistics. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Bioethics Committee of the University of Panama (Ref CBUP/N°075/2019), registered in the General Directorate of Health (DIGESA) of the Ministry of Health (N° 881). Signed informed consent will be requested from the guardians and assent for each participating child. The results of the study will be widely disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and in health and nutrition congresses.