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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.080499v1 97/2/306    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Milne, E. Articles by English, D. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Milne, E. Articles by English, D. R. Related Collections Epidemiology School Health Cardiovascular Disease

Elizabeth Milne, PhD, MPH, Julie A. Simpson, PhD, Robyn Johnston, PGrad Dip (Hlth Prom), Billie Giles-Corti, PhD, MApp Sc and Dallas R. English, PhD, MS

Elizabeth Milne is with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, West Perth. Dallas English and Julie Simpson are with the Cancer Epidemiology Centre, the Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, and the Centre for Molecular, Environmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Robyn Johnston is with the School of Nursing and Public Health, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. Billie Giles-Corti is with the School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, West Perth.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Elizabeth Milne, University of Western Australia, Centre for Child Health Research, PO BOX 855, West Perth, Western Australia 6872 (e-mail: lizm{at}ichr.uwa.edu.au).

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-specific z scores; z scores at each age were modeled simultaneously. Time spent outdoors at ages 10 and 12 years was analyzed using a linear mixed effects modeling.

Results. The proportion of children who were overweight or obese increased with age. The moderate-intervention and control groups had a minimal increase in z score over time, and the z score for the high-intervention group decreased over time. There were no differences among groups with respect to total time outdoors at any age.

Conclusions. It is possible to reduce the time children spend outdoors when ultraviolet radiation is high without producing an unfavorable effect on the children’s body mass index.