WAVE~Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in Active Youth

Overview

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.

Full Title of Study: “The WAVE~Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in Active Youth in Afterschool Programs Using Virtual- and Real-World Experiential Learning”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Non-Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Prevention
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: September 2018

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

  • Behavioral: Nutrition lessons
    • Face-to-face interactive group lessons delivered in the classroom.
  • Behavioral: Virtual 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.
  • Other: Newsletter
    • 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.

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Experimental: Intervention Group
    • All intervention youth participants will receive three components: Nutrition lessons Virtual World learning environment Newsletters
  • Active Comparator: Comparison
    • All comparison youth participants will only receive one component: 1) Newsletters

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Nutrition: Meet specific good groups dietary recommendation/guideline for fruit, vegetables, fat, and sugar intakes.
    • Time Frame: 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.
    • Time Frame: 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.
    • Time Frame: 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 Measures

  • Growth-adjusted Body Mass Index (kg/m2)
    • Time Frame: 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).

Participating in This Clinical Trial

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

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 14 Years

Maximum Age: 19 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Oregon State University
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Siew Sun Wong, PhD, Principal Investigator, OSU
    • Melinda M Manore, PhD, RD, Principal Investigator, OSU

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