Health · Fitness & Nutrition · 18 hrs ago
Water-focused after-school program linked to healthier BMI shift in children
An after-school program called H2GO!
encouraged children to drink water instead of sugary drinks at Boys & Girls Clubs in Massachusetts.
Trained staff led 12 group sessions over about six weeks, with activities to help children understand sugar in drinks and share why water mattered to them.
Researchers randomly assigned 11 clubs to offer the program or continue their usual activities, and 437 children aged 8 to 13 took part.
After one year, the average BMI measure moved in a healthier direction in the program group compared with the other clubs, with a statistically significant difference between the groups.
The change in each group on its own was not large enough to rule out chance, so the finding is about the difference between groups.
Nearly one in five school-aged children in the United States has obesity, and sugary drinks are the largest source of added sugar in children's diets.
The study suggests a focused, community-based program may help shift children's BMI without asking families to change many habits at once.
An after-school program that encouraged children to replace sugary drinks with water was linked to a healthier shift in BMI after one year.
The H2GO! trial included 437 children aged 8 to 13 at 11 Massachusetts clubs.
Children at clubs offering the program had an average BMI z-score decrease of 0.11, while the score rose by 0.08 at clubs running usual activities.
The difference between the groups was 0.19 after a year and was reported as statistically significant.
The program used 12 group sessions over about six weeks, with activities including taste tests and projects about water.
- Who
- Researchers at Boston University School of Public Health studied 437 children aged 8 to 13 and their parents or caregivers.
- What
- An after-school program encouraging children to drink fewer sugary drinks and more water was linked to a healthier BMI shift after one year.
- When
- The trial ran from 2020 to 2025. The reported BMI difference was measured after one year.
- Where
- At 11 Boys & Girls Clubs across Massachusetts.
- Why
- The program aimed to test whether focusing on one change—drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks—could help children’s BMI move in a healthier direction.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The trial ran at 11 clubs across Massachusetts, with clubs randomly assigned to offer H2GO! or continue usual activities.
Trained club staff led 12 group sessions as part of the program.
The average BMI z-score fell by 0.11 in the program group and rose by 0.08 at the other clubs.
- Participants
- 437 children aged 8 to 13
- Trial sites
- 11 clubs across Massachusetts
- Program
- 12 group sessions over about six weeks
- BMI z-score change
- Down 0.11 in the program group; up 0.08 in the comparison group
- Difference after one year
- 0.19; reported as statistically significant
What people are saying
One of the most striking findings from this study is that we were able to shift our study participants’ BMI in a healthier direction at a time when childhood obesity trends nationally were moving the opposite way
That tells us that well-designed, community-based behavioral interventions can make a meaningful difference, even against a difficult broader backdrop.
Our formative work with families and community partners taught us that asking families to change many dietary behaviors at once can quickly become overwhelming, particularly for families facing competing time and financial pressures