Targeted Obesity Prevention Program for Adolescent Females
Condition: Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an obesity prevention program
      when administered to female college freshmen.
    

Detailed description: 
      The goal of this project is to conduct a large randomized controlled trial of a selected
      obesity prevention program that reduced risk for future onset of obesity over a 2-year
      follow-up and decreased bulimic symptoms and negative affect in a preliminary trial (N =
      188). The Healthy Weight program targets female adolescents with body image concerns because
      they are a group at high risk for obesity onset. We propose to focus on body-dissatisfied
      females during the first year of college because this is a particularly high-risk
      developmental period for weight gain (Butler, Black, Blue, & Gretbeck, 2004; Hovell, Mewborn,
      Randle, & Fowler-Johnson, 1985). This intervention utilizes persuasion principles from social
      and clinical psychology (e.g., strategic self-presentation, motivational interviewing) to
      increase the likelihood that participants will make behavioral changes. This study consists
      of two components:

      We plan to include 405 female college freshmen (aged 17-19) as participants in this study.
      All first-year female University of Oregon students are mailed a letter of invitation to
      participate. Posters and flyers on campus are also used as recruitment tools. Participants
      are assigned to either a healthy weight management condition or a media literacy condition
      (in which participants learn tricks media use to enhance women's appearance). In both
      conditions, participants attend four weekly 1-hour sessions led by female research assistants
      from the Oregon Research Institute. All participants complete 5 structured psychiatric
      interviews assessing current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) symptoms of anorexia
      nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, as well as psychiatric conditions that
      commonly co-occur with bulimia nervosa during adolescence. Participants also complete 5
      surveys that focus on her attitudes, feelings, and behaviors over the past month. Surveys and
      interviews are administered by trained assessors at baseline, one month later, 6 months from
      baseline, 12 months from baseline, and 24 months from baseline. Participants' height and
      weight are also measured during these assessments. If a participant meets criteria for an
      eating disorder at any assessment point, she is told in a clinically sensitive fashion that a
      more intensive intervention is needed and treatment referrals are provided. If a participant
      meets criteria for a co-morbid condition, she is informed of the need to seek treatment, but
      she is allowed in the study. If a participant is already very thin (in the lowest 5th
      percentile weight for her height), she is told that it may be dangerous to participate in an
      intervention that might result in further weight loss, and she will not be allowed in the
      study. Participants are paid for completing the assessments ($30 for completing each survey
      and interview, with a $30 bonus for completing all assessments, for a total of $180 over the
      course of two years). Participants randomly selected to participate in the Validity Sub-study
      (described below) have the opportunity to earn an additional $180. Identifying information
      never appears on any interviews or surveys. Identifying information will be collected on
      separate forms for tracking purposes only. Interviews, surveys, and identifying information
      forms are transported immediately to Oregon Research Institute by trained assessors.

      We will conduct an intensive validation substudy with a randomly selected 15% of participants
      (n = 60). We plan to assess the validity of self-reported caloric intake with doubly labeled
      water, and the validity of self-reported activity levels with tri-axial accelerometers. We
      will also measure resting metabolic rate using a ventilated hood. For each of the 2 academic
      quarters that we recruit participants during each of the 3 proposed recruitment years, 10
      participants will be randomly selected to provide intensive data during the last 2 weeks of
      the interventions because this should be the period during which there is maximal difference
      between participants in the two conditions in terms of caloric intake and physical activity.
      Participants in the validity sub-study will complete all assessments in the University of
      Oregon's human physiology lab. Assessments will be carried out by trained human physiology
      staff. Participants will complete pregnancy tests prior to participating in the validity
      substudy. Pregnant participants will not be able to complete the validity substudy as an
      extra precaution against any risk to the fetus that may be posed by the doubly labeled water
      procedure. No risks to fetuses or pregnant women from doubly labeled water have been
      identified at this point in time. Participants in this substudy will complete a 4-hour
      assessment within 2 days after the second intervention session (week 2) and will complete
      another 2-hour assessment within 2 days after the fourth intervention session. Participants
      will be offered an additional $80 for coming to the lab for the first 4-hour assessment and
      $100 for coming to the lab for the second 2-hour assessment.
    

Intervention name(s): Healthy Weight
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 4 weekly 1 hour meetings that encourage reductions in fat and sugar intake and increases in physical activity to decrease onset of obesity and body dissatisfaction.
Other intervention name(s): Healthy Weight Project
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: adolescent; female; obesity; body dissatisfaction