This study is a multi-functional integrated research and education project to prevent losses in academic achievement, cognitive function, and behavioral health among at-risk youth. The study tests the effects of a 8-week nutrition and physical activity-based program (Integrated Childhood Activity and Nutrition \[ICAN\]) to prevent summer learning loss. Outcomes include standardized academic achievement as well as executive function among 6-10-year-olds affected by poverty. The nutrition component of the intervention involves daily consumption of a snack containing the carotenoid lutein, typically found in high quantities in green leafy vegetables. The physical activity components will involve group games or activities.
During the summer period it is estimated that children, especially those from impoverished settings, could lose up to 30% of learning gained during the school year. Additionally, the loss in learning accompanied by increased risk for obesity. Children's dietary intake, particularly of nutrient-dense dark green leafy vegetables, has persistently fallen below dietary recommendations. Similarly, there has been a decline in children's aerobic fitness since the 1970s. Despite consistent and widespread efforts, there has been limited progress in improving children's dietary habits, habitual physical activity engagement, and reducing child obesity. One reason for this perpetual challenge is that educational and intervention efforts typically occur during the school year. However, it is the summer, not the school year, when accelerated increases in body fat and decline in diet quality and physical activity tend to occur. Student summer learning loss, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the summer slide, is the loss of academic knowledge and/or skills during the summer. Students' achievement scores decline over the summer by one month's worth of school-year learning instruction. Additionally, these effects are more pronounced black and Latino students who not only tend to gain less over the school year but exhibit greater learning loss in the summer, compared to white students. This is at least in part because during summer, fewer opportunities exist for children from low-income households to access healthy structured programs. Therefore, efficacious nutrition and physical activity-based programs are critically needed, especially during summer, a period of vulnerability among children affected by poverty. This work will conduct an 8-week physical activity and nutrition randomized controlled trial among children during the summer period. The specific aims are outlined below. Specific Aim 1: To investigate the effects of combining an 8-week lutein intervention (6mg lutein/day) with a social emotional learning (SEL)-framed physical activity summer intervention (ICAN) on improving academic achievement and cognition among school children (6-11-year-olds) affected by poverty. Specific Aim 2: To investigate the effects of the ICAN program on improvement in carotenoid status and implications for academics and cognition in 6-11-year-olds from impoverished settings. Specific Aim 3: To investigate ICAN intervention effects on weight status and adiposity.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
100
Participants will be enrolled in an 8-week (Monday-Friday) daily physical activity program where treatment group participants will receive daily physical activity via organized games and daily lutein (6mg/d) snacks.
Bloomington Public Schools District 87
Bloomington, Illinois, United States
RECRUITINGAcademic Achievement
Composite score on the standardized Kaufman Test of Academic and Educational Achievement 3-(KTEA-3)
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Attentional Inhibition
Flanker Task Accuracy (%)
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8-week Post-test
Attentional Inhibition
Flanker Reaction Time (ms)
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8-week Post-test
Attentional Resource Allocation
P3 Event-related potential amplitude (mv)
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Processing Speed
P3 Event-related potential latency (ms)
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Retinal Xanthophylls
Macular Pigment Optical Density
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Skin Carotenoids
Veggiemeter Score
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Weight status
BMI-for-age Percentile
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Adiposity
%Fat assessed by bioelectric impedance
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
Nutrition Literacy
Nutrition Literacy Survey
Time frame: Baseline vs. 8 week Post-test
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