A Community-based Study to Target Childhood Obesity
Condition: Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a community-based behavioral
      intervention (H2GO!) on decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and promoting water
      consumption among school-aged youth and parents/caregivers. We hypothesize that participants
      in the intervention site will demonstrate reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake intake and
      increased water intake compared to participants in the comparison site at 2 and 6 months
      follow-up.
    

Detailed description: 
      This study aims to assess the efficacy of a community-based behavioral intervention (H2GO!)
      targeting sugar-sweetened beverage and water consumption among 108 parent-child pairs (N=216)
      through a site-randomized trial.

      The study setting includes 2 Boys and Girls Club sites in Massachusetts, USA that were
      pair-matched for size and racial/ethnic composition. The Boys and Girls of America is a
      national organization that provides affordable after-school programs for a large population
      (~4 million annually) of diverse youth (33% White, 30% Black, 23% Latino) from predominantly
      low socioeconomic backgrounds through over 4,000 club facilities across the U.S.

      The H2GO! intervention was designed to address two behavioral targets: reducing the number of
      sugar-sweetened beverage servings consumed per day (recommended guideline of zero servings
      per day) and promoting water consumption (approximately 5-8 cups per day for youth
      participants and 8 cups per day for parental participants). Informed by the Social Cognitive
      Theory and the Social Ecological Model, the H2GO! Intervention was designed to target child
      and parent participants' knowledge, attitudes (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, perceived
      social norms) and behavioral capabilities related to sugar-sweetened beverage and water
      consumption.

      The 6-week behavioral intervention consists of group-based weekly sessions (1-hour sessions
      twice a week) delivered by trained Boys and Girls Club program staff at the Boys and Girls
      Club site. Each intervention session consists of a 1-hour health module followed by a 1-hour
      narrative module. Topics of the health modules include: understanding the benefits of water,
      sampling different types of fruit-flavored water, identifying sugar-sweetened beverages,
      exploring the local grocery store, identifying barriers and facilitators to drinking water,
      and managing triggers for sugar-sweetened beverages. The narrative modules include
      intervention objectives and activities that reinforce knowledge, attitudes, skills, and
      behaviors targeted in the previous health component.

      Child participants will receive a reusable water bottle and a pictorial intervention booklet.
      Developed by the study principal investigator (PI) and research assistants, the
      brightly-colored booklet was culturally and linguistically-tailored to the study population
      and included intervention activity worksheets, parent-child take-home activities, fun facts
      and quizzes, and beverage consumption tracking sheets. Activity worksheets will be completed
      by participants during intervention sessions; and parent-child take-home activities will be
      completed following each session.

      Study assessments will take place at baseline, 2 months, and 6 months.
    

Intervention name(s): H2GO!
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: sugar-sweetened beverage consumption; water consumption; dietary behaviors; youth