Association between a school-based intervention and adiposity outcomes in adolescents: The Italian "EAT" project.

Objective: To evaluate whether a school-based multicomponent educational program could improve adiposity measures in middle-school adolescents.

Methods: A non-randomized controlled pilot study was conducted in six state middle schools (487 adolescents, 11-15 years) in townships in an urban area around Milan, three schools (n = 262 adolescents) being assigned to the intervention group and three schools (n = 225 adolescents) to the control group. The two-school-year intervention included changes in the school environment (alternative healthy vending machines, educational posters) and individual reinforcement tools (school lessons, textbook, text messages, pedometers, re-usable water bottles).