YES! We Can PLAY: A Physical Activity and Nutrition After-School Program for Middle School Students
Condition: Child Obesity
MeSH terms: Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      YES! We can PLAY: A Physical Activity and Nutrition After-School Program for Middle School
      Students, is a collaborative partnership between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and
      the Birmingham City Schools District to decrease health disparities in obesity and
      obesity-related diseases by increasing physical activity levels and healthy eating behavior
      among Birmingham youth. Through the after-school program in which children choose from a menu
      of sports programming, the proposed intervention will increase physical literacy of the
      students through education related to both physical activity and nutrition as well as
      social-emotional learning which will increase students' ability to integrate the information
      and activities of the program into their lives moving forward.
    

Detailed description: 
      The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that youth engage in 60 minutes of
      MVPA per day, but most U.S. youth do not meet this goal. Already inadequate levels of
      physical activity drop still further as children transition from elementary school to middle
      school; during this transition sports participation and overall physical activity decrease.
      According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior
      Survey data from 2009, the most recent year for which Alabama data is available for
      middle-school students, only 30% or fewer of the responding youth reported adherence to
      Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Additional data indicates these poor health
      behaviors in middle school carry forward into high school. Ninth graders in Alabama report
      low levels of vegetable and fruit consumption, with roughly 10% of the students indicating
      that they had eaten no fruit or vegetables at all in the 7 days prior to the survey. In a
      study conducted in Birmingham, researchers found that school-based resources were the most
      important determinants of physical activity among youth ages 12-14. This information is
      particularly meaningful when placed in context with the high prevalence of sedentary behavior
      among Birmingham youth.

      Because physical activity and sports participation decrease in the transition to middle
      school, interventions that provide opportunities for physical activity and sports
      participation for middle school students have the potential to impact the short-term and
      long-term health of youth. In Alabama middle schools, only 7th and 8th graders are eligible
      to play on Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) sports teams, leaving 6th graders
      who do not have access to club or recreational sports due to finances, transportation or
      other issues related to poverty, with few options for participating in organized sports. For
      students who live in neighborhoods that experience high rates of crime, informal physical
      activity options are rare as well. Lack of opportunities for both organized and informal
      physical activity may lead 6th graders to drop sports participation altogether, which could
      impact lifetime physical activity habits and lead to lower health status.

      The school setting is a prime location for improving eating habits and increasing physical
      activity since schools have direct contact with the children for about eight hours a day, and
      out of school time programs have been shown to be a desirable environment for such
      intervention and can be effective in promoting higher fruit and vegetable intake, as well as
      increased physical activity. Currently the Birmingham City Schools District for 3rd through
      5th graders. Let's Move began over 15 years ago and has evolved since. There are
      approximately 1300 students that participate in some of the Let's Move program components,
      which include 2 days per week of after-school sports programming. The program emphasizes
      basic skills instruction while encouraging a positive, fitness-oriented, after-school program
      supporting healthy lifestyles. Let's Move serves as important foundation for the organization
      and implementation of the proposed program as it expands the content and elevates the target
      audience to middle school students. Due to COVID restrictions, the YES! program will operate
      virtually. in out of school time. During the 2020-2021 school year the program took place
      virtually will after school at least 3 days per week. Once public health guidelines allowed
      for in person programming, participants could choose to take part in the program face-to-face
      at his/her school (during the school year) or at the YMCA of Birmingham's Youth Center
      (during the summer).
    

Intervention name(s): Sports Readiness Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Sixth graders will participate in a 6 month after-school program in which each daily session will last 90 minutes, 60 minutes of which will be moderate to vigorous physical activity. Two sports tracks will be offered during each 8-week season, and children will choose which they prefer. Coaches will be trained through a one day capacity building session and will receive online training throughout the program. Coaches will integrate sports readiness/physical activity programming, nutrition and healthy eating, and social emotional learning into the program with a focus on habit formation. A text-based platform will be utilized to encourage habits learned in the active portion of the program during June and July as well as on weekends during the intervention. Parents will be sent fliers weekly summarizing concepts addressed, and will be invited to cooking classes to watch students compete.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: This research study uses a cluster randomized design who attend the intervention schools. For the control group, we will invite students from comparison schools that do not participate in the intervention.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: physical activity; social emotional learning; healthy eating; sports readiness