{
  "abstract": "Background: Childhood obesity has emerged as a major public health challenge, necessitating global effort to turn the tide. Jiangsu Province initiated the Sports-Health Integration Policy (SHIP) and selected different municipalities as the pilot and control sites. SHIP combined hospital collaboration with a digital platform for continuous physical fitness and health monitoring and early warning, supported by coordinated school–family–community engagement to advance sports-health integration. This study evaluated the impact of SHIP implementation on obesity-related outcomes among primary school children.\n\nMethods: We used individual-level longitudinal data from a total of 600 students from multiple schools in the pilot city and another 600 students from the counterpart city, respectively. The primary outcomes included the obesity prevalence rates and BMI z-score. Body fat percentage was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Secondary outcomes included self-reported dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary lifestyle. A quasi-experimental difference-in-differences framework was used to estimate changes in study outcomes in association with the SHIP implementation.\n\nResults: Compared with their counterparts, children in the SHIP implementation areas experienced greater reductions in overweight/obesity prevalence, BMI z-score, and body fat percentage. SHIP implementation also led to favourable changes in obesity-related lifestyles, including lower consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and shorter daily screen time.\n\nConclusions: These findings indicated the field effectiveness of the SHIP implementation warrants continuous investment for scale-up. This hybrid digital-assisted policy plays a promising role in childhood obesity prevention. Further randomized trials with specific school-based programs are encouraged to consolidate the public health gain from SHIP implementation.\n\nKey messages: • This study demonstrates that the Sports-Health Integration Policy reduces obesity prevalence and promotes healthier lifestyle behaviors among children.\n\n• SHIP’s hybrid digital-assisted model represents a effective population-level approach, providing evidence for its broader scale-up.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "abstract",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "H Xue"
    },
    {
      "name": "Y Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "W Du"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8fswa6cc8e4gx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.596",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13699229/",
  "id": "8fswa6cc8e4gx",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.596",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "3. PARALLEL PROGRAMME"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223707250",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13699229/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13699229",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8fswa6cc8e4gx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:52Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13699229",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.596"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:25Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13699229",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13699229"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Sports-health integration policy and childhood obesity: A difference-in-differences study",
  "title_text": "Sports-health integration policy and childhood obesity: A difference-in-differences study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8fswa6cc8e4gx",
  "venue": "The European Journal of Public Health",
  "versions": []
}