Obesity
Conditions
Keywords
physical activity, fruit and vegetable, water, girls, African American, online
Brief summary
The purpose of this project is to reduce health disparities in obesity risk among 8-10 year old African American girls using a culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate internet-based program with no face-to-face interaction. This study will conduct an outcome evaluation to test short and longer term effects on obesity risk.
Detailed description
This research will conduct an outcome evaluation on a promising web based obesity prevention program for 8-10 year old African American girls. A pilot study with 80 girls established its feasibility: recruitment goals were met; attrition rates were \< 10%; logon rates to the online program were 74.5%; and statistically significant increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and time spent being physically active were observed. The outcome evaluation will recruit 400 child-parent pairs to examine short and longer term effects of the program on obesity risk. It will also conduct mediation analyses to examine pathways of effect. At the end of the study, the web based program will be hosted on the CNRC web site. Although the use of the internet as a method for changing health behavior is not new, the use of an internet program alone, with no face to face interaction, is novel. This is one of the first programs to attempt this, particularly in an at-risk population.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFood, Fun, & Fitness Internet Program for Girls
This is an 8 episode intervention, delivered entirely over the internet. Each episode, girls will view an interactive story in which 6 8-10 year old African American characters attempt to solve a mystery about their town. The online program will include information about healthy nutrition (i.e., consuming more fruit, vegetables, water) and physical activity. There will be two groups; one group (the experimental group) will view the interactive story and participate in key behavior change procedures, such as personal goal setting, problem solving, and self monitoring activities. The second group (the active comparator group) will view the online stories but will not engage in key behavior change procedures.
Sponsors
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Baylor College of Medicine
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
8 Years to 10 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 8-10 years old * healthy * African American * parent willing to participate in data collection * internet access * personal email address
Exclusion criteria
* mental, physical, or medical conditions that limit fruit-vegetable consumption, physical activity, or ability to fully participate in the program and/or complete baseline and post assessment data collection * taking medications that influence dietary behaviors, appetite, and/or physical activity
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Body mass index percentile | 6 months | height and weight will be used to calculate BMI percentile |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| fruit and vegetable consumption | 3 months | dietitian-assisted dietary recalls will be collected using the NDSR system; 2 recalls will be collected (1 week day and 1 weekend day) |
| physical activity | 3 months | Accelerometers will be used to assess physical activity at each time point |
| self efficacy | 3 months | Standard measures will be used to assess fruit, vegetable, water, and physical activity self efficacy |
| home availability | 3 months | standard measures will be used to assess fruit, vegetable, and physical activity equipment home availability |
| asking behaviors | 3 months | standard measures will be used to assess child fruit, vegetable, water, and physical activity asking behaviors |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed