WAVE Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in Active Youth

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Intervention targets youth ages 14 - 19 participating in soccer teams. The intervention group will be given face to face nutrition lessons and have access to an online immersive learning environment. The comparison group will not. The project will test if the immersive learning environment is effective in preventing unhealthy weight gain.

Detailed Description
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Active youth are just as likely to develop poor dietary habits that can contribute to obesity later in life, after high school sports has ended. However, youth in sports may provide a key window of opportunity to teach them about eating health foods if that information is tied to sport performance. This project will test to see if that is true. The virtual world is an idea medium for learning for this project. The project will test whether it indeed can result in behavior change more effectively than just more traditional face to face learning.

Official Title
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The WAVE Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in Active Youth in Afterschool Programs Using Virtual- and Real-World Experiential Learning

Conditions
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Childhood Obesity Prevention

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Nutrition lessons
* Behavioral: Virtual world learning environment
* Other: Newsletter


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: youth ages 14 - 19 at baseline enrolled in a high school soccer program living with a parent/caregiver in Oregon without medical condition that hinders them from consuming normal healthy diets has assess to the internet during the 2-year study proficient in English Exclusion Criteria: non-English speakers (youth) prisoners

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 14 Years
Maximum Age: 19 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: There is one intervention group and one comparison group.
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Intervention Group<br>All intervention youth participants will receive three components: Nutrition lessons Virtual World learning environment Newsletters | Behavioral: Nutrition lessons<br>* Face-to-face interactive group lessons delivered in the classroom.<br>Behavioral: Virtual world learning environment<br>* Every participant has their own unique avatar in the virtual world learning environment named Rippleville. They can choose to complete quests, watch archived nutrition video lessons, explore, and socialize with other avatars. They receive rewards (Rippleville dollar and badges) for their efforts.<br>* Other names: Rippleville;Other: Newsletter<br>* All participants in the intervention and comparison groups receive up to 10 professional newsletters on topics related to sports nutrition and performance, healthy eating and active living tips.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Comparison<br>All comparison youth participants will only receive one component: 1) Newsletters | Other: Newsletter<br>* All participants in the intervention and comparison groups receive up to 10 professional newsletters on topics related to sports nutrition and performance, healthy eating and active living tips.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nutrition: Meet specific good groups dietary recommendation/guideline for fruit, vegetables, fat, and sugar intakes. | Intakes of fat, sugar, fruits and vegetables are measured by self-reported screener using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). Change in intake frequencies are compared baseline, 12 and 24 months later. | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | 
| Physical activity: Meet moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation. | MVPA is measured by total steps and minutes per day with the use of a wearable lifestyle tracker such as the Fitbit. Average steps during soccer season and outside soccer season are compared. | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | 
| Sleep about 8 hours/day. | Together with MVPA, sleep is measured by average number of sleep hours per day as self-reported by participants via written and/or electronic surveys . | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Growth-adjusted Body Mass Index (kg/m2) | Height and body weight are measured using a stadiometer (SECA 217, SECA Corp., Singapore) and a Tanita scale (TM-300A, Tanita Corp., Itabashi-Ku, Tokyo, Japan). | Change from baseline at 12 and 24 months later | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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adolescent, sports, nutrition, physical activity, body mass index, virtual world