A Skills-based RCT for Physical Activity Using Peer Mentors
Condition: Health Behavior; Obesity; Motor Activity
MeSH terms: Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This approach will train peer mentors to deliver a culturally appropriate intervention and
      provide social support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior
      change. The objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills
      mentoring program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for
      increasing physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social
      determinants of health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to
      support targeted teens
    

Detailed description: 
      The goal of this study is to positively impact the physical activity patterns to improve
      health outcomes including the high rates of obesity in Appalachian teens. The approach will
      train peer mentors to deliver the culturally appropriate intervention and provide social
      support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior change. The primary
      objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills mentoring
      program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for increasing
      physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social determinants of
      health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to support targeted
      teens. Refined over the course of 3 studies,2-4 PBA is a ten-lesson unit delivered over 10
      weeks and designed to teach self-regulation of physical activity among teens. Expanding PBA
      to mentors via MBA has the potential to promote and sustain adoption of daily regular
      physical activity through self-regulation of physical activity in discretionary time. With
      MBA delivery, physical activity is tailored to personal interests, talents, and neighborhood
      environment. MBA empowers students to plan and evaluate their own personal activity plan. It
      is predicted that by serving as role models, peer mentors will improve their own lifestyle
      behaviors, providing a double-edged intervention. It is also predicted that providing intense
      and structured social support to teens via peer mentors will result in better health outcomes
      compared to teacher-based support alone (usual care). The plan is to conduct a group
      randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a culturally and theoretically based
      behavioral intervention delivered by peer mentors (MBA) on adolescent healthy behaviors
      (daily physical activity, regular exercise, and sedentary behaviors) and physical health
      outcomes (BMI, body fat) compared to PBA delivered in a classroom setting by a teacher.
    

Intervention name(s): Mentoring to be Active with Accelerometers; Planning to be Active with Accelerometers
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Trained high school mentors will deliver a 10 session curriculum targeting physical activity to younger teens.; Health education teachers will deliver the 10 session curriculum targeting physical activity to high school students enrolled in health courses.
Other intervention name(s): peer mentoring; Teacher PBA
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: exercise; mentors; health education; obesity