Western Sydney Adolescent Sport and Physical Activity Program (WASPA): A pilot program to manage obesity among adolescents.

INTERVENTION: (1) The WASPA Physical Activity Program ‐ Community based after school physical activity and healthy eating program conducted at a local community setting (leisure centre). The physical activity and healthy eating program focuses on increasing adolescents’ fitness, sporting skills, and physical activity, and improving their food habits and eating behaviours. The program will run for 20 weeks, with two 1.5 hour sessions each week. Adolescents will also be asked to complete two ‘additional’ physical activity sessions in their own time each week. The activities are designed to be enjoyable and to develop self‐efficacy among participants whilst also accommodating their unique needs. Parents will be asked to attend five dietary education sessions with an accredited practising dietitian. The adolescents will also participate separately in five sessions as part of the programme. These are aimed at guiding healthy eating choices through improving knowledge about portion sizes and label reading skills and preparing healthy alternatives such as afternoon snacks and meals. CONDITION: Overweight and obese adolescents PRIMARY OUTCOME: 1) Physical Activity ‐ MTI Actigraph Accelerometers ; 2) Cardiorespiratory fitness ‐ 20M shuttle run test ; 3) Muscular Strength and power ‐ Grip dynamometer, standing long jump ; 4) Functional strength ‐ prone hold, sit‐to‐stand Anthropometric ; 1) Height and Weight (Body mass index "BMI")‐ Portable stadiometer, and portable electronic scales ; 2_Waist Circumference ‐ non‐extensible tape measure ; 3) Percentage Body Fat ‐ Tanita BC‐418 Segmental Body Composition Analyser ; 4) Resting Heart Rate ‐ Polar heart rate monitor ; 5)Resting blood pressure ‐ Dinamao automated blood pressure monitor ; 5) Fasting Lipids (total cholesterol "TC", High‐density lipoproteins "HDL‐C", Low‐density lipoproteins "LDL‐C", triglycerides; insulin; glucose) ‐ Blood samples after overnight fast SECONDARY OUTCOME: Adolescent Measures (Self‐report) ; Quality of life, Psychosocial Well‐being, Food habits, Body image and eating behaviours ‐ all assessed via questionnaires. Parent Measure ; Quality of life, Demographics (household income, parental education, marital status, parent education level), Adverse events/injuries)‐ all assessed via questionnaires. INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. The adolescent will need to be overweight or obese as defined by Body Mass Index "BMI" according to International Obesity Task Force cut‐off points for age and gender. 2. At least one parent would need to attend all required dietary sessions (5 in total, which run from 4‐5:30pm in the given weeks), and only one adolescent from each family can enrol. 3. The adolescent needs to be between 12 and 16 years of age (they can be turning 12 before March 2009).