Challenge!, a Health Promotion/ Obesity Prevention Program for Teens

Sponsor

University of Maryland, Baltimore (Other)

Overall Status

Completed

CT.gov ID

NCT00746083

Collaborator

Annie E. Casey Foundation (Other), The Thomas Wilson Sanitarium for Children of Baltimore City (Other), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Other), University of Massachusetts, Worcester (Other)

235

Enrollment

Location

Arms

Duration (Months)

3.4

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of Challenge! is to determine if adolescents enrolled in a health promotion/ obesity prevention program will have a healthier BMI-for-age z-score and body composition (body fat %), will consume a healthier diet, and engage in higher levels of physical activity compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Overweight	Behavioral: Challenge!	N/A

Detailed Description

Pediatric overweight is a major public health problem in the US, with the prevalence of overweight among children of all ages increasing dramatically over the past several decades. Interventions aimed at reducing the increased weight gain during adolescence have produced mixed results.

Challenge! is a randomized controlled trial for health promotion/ obesity prevention targeting low-income, urban, African American adolescents. Healthy adolescents were recruited from an urban medical center and from local middle schools. Weight status was not part of the inclusion criteria.

The intervention was home- and community-based and delivered one-on-one to each adolescent by a college-age "personal trainer". The intervention focused on goal-setting, consuming a healthy diet (increase fruits, vegetables, and water, and decrease high-fat snack and convenience foods), and increasing physical activity. We hypothesized that the teens enrolled in the intervention would have a healthier BMI-for-age z-score and a healthier body composition (body fat %) compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time. Additionally, we hypothesized that those enrolled in the intervention would consume healthier diets and have higher levels of physical activity compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

235 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Primary Purpose:

Prevention

Official Title:

Randomized Controlled Trial for Health Promotion/ Obesity Prevention Targeting Low-income, Urban, African-American Adolescents

Study Start Date :

Apr 1, 2001

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Jul 1, 2005

Actual Study Completion Date :

Jan 1, 2007

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Intervention group	Behavioral: Challenge! Each adolescent in the intervention group received 12 lessons administered in adolescent's home or community by a "personal trainer" (a college-aged mentor). The lessons focused on behavior change relating to diet and physical activity and was based on social cognitive theory. At the end of each lesson the adolescent set a behavior change goal for themselves. The adolescents were taught how to track their goals and they discussed thir ability/inability to meet their goals at each meeting with their personal trainer. Other Names: Obesity prevention Goal setting Diet Physical activity
No Intervention: Control group

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: Intervention group

Behavioral: Challenge!

Each adolescent in the intervention group received 12 lessons administered in adolescent's home or community by a "personal trainer" (a college-aged mentor). The lessons focused on behavior change relating to diet and physical activity and was based on social cognitive theory. At the end of each lesson the adolescent set a behavior change goal for themselves. The adolescents were taught how to track their goals and they discussed thir ability/inability to meet their goals at each meeting with their personal trainer.

Other Names:

Obesity prevention

Goal setting

Diet

Physical activity

No Intervention: Control group

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

BMI-for-age z-score and percentiles (measured weight and height, self-reported gender and date of birth)and Body composition (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) [2 years]