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OBJECTIVE: Results of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative indicated that on average one out of four primary-school children is overweight or obese. Portugal presented one of the highest prevalences of obesity. Childhood obesity prevention and treatment should be a top priority. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Program Obesity Zero (POZ), a multi-component, community-, family- and school-based childhood obesity intervention. DESIGN: Parents and children attended four individual nutrition and physical activity counselling sessions, a one-day healthy cooking workshop and two school extracurricular sessions of nutrition education. Waist circumference, BMI, physical activity level, sedentary behaviours, and nutrition and physical activity knowledge, attitudes and behaviour were assessed at baseline and after 6 months. Diet was assessed using two 24 h recalls, at baseline and at 6 months. SETTING: Five Portuguese municipalities and local communities. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and sixty-six overweight children (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) aged 6-10 years, from low-income families in five Portuguese municipalities, were assigned to the intervention. RESULTS: Children showed reductions in waist circumference (-2.0 cm; P < 0.0001), mean BMI (-0.7 kg/m2; P < 0.0001) and BMI-for-age percentile (-1.7; P < 0.0001) at 6 months. Overall, children's intake of fruit and vegetables was

Background: Nutritional surveillance in school-age children, using measured weight and height, is not common in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Regional Office for Europe has therefore initiated the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative. Objective: To present the anthropometric results of data collected in 2007/2008 and to investigate whether there exist differences across countries and between the sexes. Methods: Weight and height were measured in 6–9-year-old children in 12 countries. Prevalence of overweight, obesity, stunting, thinness and underweight as well as mean Z-scores of anthropometric indices of height, weight and body mass index were calculated. Results: A total of 168 832 children were included in the analyses and a school participation rate of more than 95% was obtained in 8 out of 12 countries. Stunting, underweight and thinness were rarely prevalent. However, 19.3-49.0% of boys and 18.4-42.5% of girls were overweight (including obesity and based on the 2007 WHO growth reference).The prevalence of obesity ranged from 6.0 to 26.6% among boys and from 4.6 to 17.3% among girls. Multi-country comparisons suggest the presence of a north–south gradient with the highest level of overweight found in southern European countries. Conclusions: Overweight among 6–9-year-old children is a serious public health concern and its variation across the European Region highly depends on the country. Comparable monitoring of child growth is possible across Europe and should be emphasized in national policies and implemented as part of action plans.