Intervention Lowered Obesity Rate in Youth at High Diabetes Risk, HEALTHY Study Finds Number of overweight and obese youth fell in program and comparison schools

An intervention in middle schools lowered the obesity rate in students at highest risk for type 2 diabetes, those who started out overweight or obese in sixth grade, an NIH-funded study has found. However, schools that implemented the program did not differ from comparison schools in the study's primary outcome—the prevalence of overweight and obesity combined—which had declined 4 percent in both groups of schools by the end of the three-year study.