Clinical trial NCT01412203: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Dissemination of Action Schools! BC
Official title: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Dissemination of Action Schools! BC: A Socio-ecological Intervention to Increase Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in School Children
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Physical Activity
Obesity
Physical Fitness
Keywords: Physical activity
Healthy weight
Healthy eating
Physical fitness
Children
School based
Community based
Obesity
Health promotion
Socio-ecological
Environment based
Lead sponsor: University of British Columbia
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Victoria
name: University of Waterloo
name: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
name: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
name: Ministry of Education, British Columbia
name: Ministry of Health, British Columbia
name: Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts, British Columbia
name: Provincial Health Services Authority
name: JW Sporta
name: 2010 Legacies Now
First posted: 2011-08-09
Enrollment: 1529
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 8
Maximum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Childhood obesity is a major public health threat. Physical activity and healthy eating contribute to the maintenance of healthy weights. Individually oriented behaviour change programs may not be able to overcome the influence of what has been called an obesogenic environment. Action Schools! BC (AS! BC) used a socio-ecological approach to enhance opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating in elementary schools and created systemic change at the provincial level. AS! BC helps elementary schools customize action plans, based upon their local context, to contribute to the health and well-being of children and the school community. Pilot research showed that AS! BC was an effective and feasible model. The provincial dissemination of AS! BC has been launched and partners from across many sectors are involved to enhance the sharing of knowledge and increase the implementation of the AS! BC model across British Columbia. The dissemination provides an unprecedented opportunity for evaluating how changing the school environment can promoted healthy weights in children. The dissemination was evaluated using a cluster randomized design; 30 elementary schools (n = 1529 consented children) from four (out of five) provincial health authorities volunteered to participate.

The primary goals of the research are:

1. to determine if the Action Schools! BC (AS! BC) model is an effective approach to positively change school environments and health related behaviours of children from diverse geographical regions and cultural groups, and
2. to determine if the supports provided to schools or the community context influence the uptake and use of the AS! BC model.

This research will contribute to the science of obesity prevention and knowledge use as well as public health practice.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Student attends a school that has agreed to participate in the study
* Student's classroom teacher has agreed to participate in the study
* Student is in grade 4 or 5 at start of study
* Student participates in regular physical education classes at school
* Student's parents provide consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Student does not attend a school that has agreed to participate in the study
* Student's classroom teacher does not agree to participate in the study
* Student is not in grade 4 or 5 at start of study
* Student does not participate in regular physical education classes at school
* Student's parents do not provide consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Physical activity opportunities delivered (minutes/week)
measure: School environment scores
measure: Height (cm)
measure: Weight (kg)
measure: Body mass index (kg/m^2)
measure: Physical fitness (Fitnessgram (C))
measure: Children's leisure time physical activity (PAQ-C)
measure: Children's dietary intake
measure: Physical activity interventions planned
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Contextual factors surrounding the use of the intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Vancouver
country: Canada
facility: University of British Columbia - Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
state: British Columbia
city: Victoria
country: Canada
facility: University of Victoria
state: British Columbia
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Victoria
name: PJ Naylor, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of British Columbia
name: Heather A McKay, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Naylor PJ, Macdonald HM, Reed KE, McKay HA. Action Schools! BC: a socioecological approach to modifying chronic disease risk factors in elementary school children. Prev Chronic Dis. 2006 Apr;3(2):A60. Epub 2006 Mar 15.
citation: Naylor PJ, Macdonald HM, Zebedee JA, Reed KE, McKay HA. Lessons learned from Action Schools! BC--an 'active school' model to promote physical activity in elementary schools. J Sci Med Sport. 2006 Oct;9(5):413-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2006.06.013. Epub 2006 Aug 1.
citation: Nettlefold L, Naylor PJ, Macdonald HM, McKay HA. Scaling up Action Schools! BC: How Does Voltage Drop at Scale Affect Student Level Outcomes? A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 May 13;18(10):5182. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105182.
citation: McKay HA, Macdonald HM, Nettlefold L, Masse LC, Day M, Naylor PJ. Action Schools! BC implementation: from efficacy to effectiveness to scale-up. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Feb;49(4):210-8. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2013-093361. Epub 2014 Oct 13.
citation: Nettlefold L, McKay HA, Naylor PJ, Bredin SS, Warburton DE. The relationship between objectively measured physical activity, sedentary time, and vascular health in children. Am J Hypertens. 2012 Aug;25(8):914-9. doi: 10.1038/ajh.2012.68.