Play as a Method to Reduce Overweight and Obesity in Children: An RCT Sánchez López, Antonio Manuel Menor Rodríguez, María José Sánchez García, Juan Carlos Aguilar Cordero, María José obesity play physical activity body composition Background: Overweight and obesity are the result of a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors, which begins prenatally. Aim: To analyse an intervention based on play as a means of improving the body composition of children who are overweight or obese. Methods: The Kids-Play study is a randomized clinical trial (RCT) consisting of 49 children aged 8–12 years on a nine-month intervention programme based on physical activity, play and nutritional advice. Controls had another 49 children, who received only nutritional advice. Results: The play-based intervention achieved a moderate-vigorous level of physical activity in the study group of 81.18 min per day, while the corresponding level for the control group was only 37.34 min. At the start of the intervention, the children in the study group had an average body fat content of 41.66%, a level that decreased to 38.85% by the end of the programme. Among the control group, body fat increased from 38.83% to 41.4% during the same period. Conclusions: The intervention programme considered, based on both play and nutritional recommendations, produced a decrease in body fat among children aged 8–12 years. However, the control group, which received only nutritional recommendations, experienced an increase in body weight. 2024-09-17T11:09:55Z 2024-09-17T11:09:55Z 2020-01-03 journal article Sánchez López, A.M. et. al. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 346. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010346] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/94612 10.3390/ijerph17010346 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI