The CHIRPY DRAGON: The Chinese Primary School Children Physical Activity and Dietary Behaviour Changes Intervention Study

The CHIRPY DRAGON study included a feasibility and clinical trials of the childhood obesity prevention programme developed in my PhD for Chinese children. The clinical trial was a randomised controlled trial (involving over 60,000 children and their families from 40 Chinese primary schools) of a multi-component childhood obesity prevention programme at the University of Birmingham in partnership with Chinese local authorities. The intervention is known as CHIRPY DRAGON. Guided by the UK Medical Research Council's framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions, the CHIRPY DRAGON intervention was developed over 7 years and proven to be highly cost-effective in reducing BMI z score in urban Chinese children. The intervention also led to significant, beneficial effects on other anthropometric (e.g. waist circumference), behavioural (e.g. consumption of fruit, vegetable and unhealthy snacks; physical activity and sedentary behaviours) and psycho-social (quality of life) outcomes. This study provides the first example of rigorous development and evaluation of evidence-based childhood obesity prevention interventions in low- and middle-income countries, and addresses many methodological limitations of trials conducted in high income countries.