Childhood Obesity Prevention
Conditions
Keywords
adolescent, sports, nutrition, physical activity, body mass index, virtual world
Brief summary
Intervention targets youth ages 14 - 19 participating in soccer teams. The intervention group will be given face to face nutrition lessons and have access to an online immersive learning environment. The comparison group will not. The project will test if the immersive learning environment is effective in preventing unhealthy weight gain.
Detailed description
Active youth are just as likely to develop poor dietary habits that can contribute to obesity later in life, after high school sports has ended. However, youth in sports may provide a key window of opportunity to teach them about eating health foods if that information is tied to sport performance. This project will test to see if that is true. The virtual world is an idea medium for learning for this project. The project will test whether it indeed can result in behavior change more effectively than just more traditional face to face learning.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALNutrition lessons
Face-to-face interactive group lessons delivered in the classroom.
BEHAVIORALVirtual world learning environment
Every participant has their own unique avatar in the virtual world learning environment named Rippleville. They can choose to complete quests, watch archived nutrition video lessons, explore, and socialize with other avatars. They receive rewards (Rippleville dollar and badges) for their efforts.
OTHERNewsletter
All participants in the intervention and comparison groups receive up to 10 professional newsletters on topics related to sports nutrition and performance, healthy eating and active living tips.
Sponsors
Oregon State University
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
There is one intervention group and one comparison group.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 19 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* youth ages 14 - 19 at baseline * enrolled in a high school soccer program * living with a parent/caregiver in Oregon * without medical condition that hinders them from consuming normal healthy diets * has assess to the internet during the 2-year study * proficient in English
Exclusion criteria
* non-English speakers (youth) * prisoners
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrition: Meet specific good groups dietary recommendation/guideline for fruit, vegetables, fat, and sugar intakes. | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | Intakes of fat, sugar, fruits and vegetables are measured by self-reported screener using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). Change in intake frequencies are compared baseline, 12 and 24 months later. |
| Physical activity: Meet moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation. | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | MVPA is measured by total steps and minutes per day with the use of a wearable lifestyle tracker such as the Fitbit. Average steps during soccer season and outside soccer season are compared. |
| Sleep about 8 hours/day. | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | Together with MVPA, sleep is measured by average number of sleep hours per day as self-reported by participants via written and/or electronic surveys . |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Growth-adjusted Body Mass Index (kg/m2) | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | Height and body weight are measured using a stadiometer (SECA 217, SECA Corp., Singapore) and a Tanita scale (TM-300A, Tanita Corp., Itabashi-Ku, Tokyo, Japan). |
Outcome results
None listed