Time spent outdoors at midday and children's body mass index

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether the Kidskin sun protection intervention increased children's body mass index by reducing the time spent outdoors at midday. METHODS: The Kidskin sun protection intervention involved 1614 Australian school children assigned to 1 of 3 groups: a control group, a moderate-intervention group, or a high-intervention group. Schools in the control group received the standard health curriculum and schools in the intervention groups received a multicomponent intervention. Outcomes included time spent outdoors and nevus development (a marker of melanoma risk). Height and weight were measured at 3 time points. Body mass index was transformed into age- and gender-speci..