Childhood Obesity
Conditions
Keywords
Healthy Eating, Alaska Native, Traditional Foods
Brief summary
The long-term goal of this community based participatory research project is to prevent obesity in 3-5 year old Alaska Native children in remote communities. Investigators will design and evaluate a culturally responsive, home-focused intervention, Tundra Gifts, that links early childhood education programming (i.e. Head Start) and federal food assistance programs (i.e. WIC and SNAP) with primary caregivers to support healthy eating and an active lifestyle using a cluster-randomized design. The intervention integrates behavior change theory with Indigenous traditional knowledge. Primary caregivers will attend monthly interactive education session, receive a monthly gift basket that includes resources and supplies to support behavior change at home and receive ongoing social support through a Facebook site. Investigators will also evaluate key process indicators of Tundra Gifts to understand the impact on outcomes of variations in persons and settings and to enhance the generalizability of findings.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTundra Gifts
Tundra Gifts is a home-focused intervention delivered by community health workers (CHW) that focuses on promoting healthy eating and an active lifestyle among 3-5 year olds through family and community partnerships. Primary caregivers will attend monthly interactive education session, receive a monthly gift basket that includes resources and supplies to support behavior change at home and receive ongoing social support through a Facebook site.
Sponsors
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
University of Alaska Anchorage
State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Grand Valley State University
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Years to 5 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 3-5 year old children enrolled in Head Start and their primary caregiver in Yup'ik Alaska Native communities
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in child physical activity | twice annually for 3 years | Physical activity questionnaire |
| Change in child intake of sugar sweetened beverages | twice annually for 3 years | Hair biomarker of sugar using N and C stable isotope ratios |
| Change in age- and sex-specific BMI percentiles and z-scores | twice annually for 3 years | — |
| Change in child intake of vegetables and fruit | twice annually for 3 years | 24-hour recall in combination with a 2-day food record |
| Change in child screen time | twice annually for 3 years | Screen time questionnaire |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in adult BMI | twice annually for 3 years | — |
| Change in adult intake of vegetables and fruit | twice annually for 3 years | skin carotenoid meter using reflection spectroscopy (veggie-meter) |
| Change in adult attitudes and beliefs around healthy eating and active lifestyle | twice annually for 3 years | Attitudes and beliefs questionnaire |
Contacts
Primary ContactAndrea Bersamin, PhD
Outcome results
None listed