Study on Out of School Nutrition and Physical Activity Environments

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)590 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to design and conduct research to tailor out of school time evaluation materials so they are applicable to various settings in Boston, are efficient in that minimal resources and time are used, and are useful to participants.

Nearly half of Boston's school age children (49%) participate in out of school time programs, a critical time to intervene on physical activity and nutrition. Previous research has mostly focused on during-school-day efforts, or on child care policies and practices for very young children, leaving a gap in the knowledge of what might work with programs serving school-age children during out of school time. OSNAP aims to implement low cost and sustainable policy and environmental interventions to improve physical activity and healthy eating/beverage environments. Data will be collected via observations, plate waste and accelerometers on program policies, environments, practices and behavioral outcomes related to physical activity, beverage, snack and screen time outcomes.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

590

Conditions

Child Physical Activity Child Nutrition

Interventions

Policy and Environmental ChangeBEHAVIORAL

Afterschool programs participate in an assessment of physical activity and nutrition practices and policies. Study staff work with teams of afterschool programs in a participatory manner to identify areas in which programs would like to take practice, policy and communication efforts to meet physical activity and nutrition goals. Teams share progress and barriers during ongoing collaborative meetings.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 5 YearsMax age: 12 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Afterschool programs in Boston MA serving at least 40 children ages 5-12 years operating the full school year between September and June * Afterschool programs serving a snack to children * Children between the ages of 5 and 12 years

Locations (1)

Harvard Prevention Research Center

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in physical activity

Accelerometer and SOPLAY observation

Time frame: Participants' physical activity will be measure over the course of 5 consecutive school days pre-intervention and 5 consecutive school days post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Change in dietary intake

plate waste consumption

Time frame: Participants' dietary intake will be measure over the course of 5 consecutive school days pre-intervention and 5 consecutive school days post-intervention

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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