Clinical trial NCT00608036: Evaluating the Relationship Between Physical Activity, Diet, Weight, and the Neighborhood Environment for Adolescents
Official title: Ecological Analysis of Activity, Eating, and Weight in Adolescents
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Obesity
Keywords: Adolescents
Neighborhood
Walkability
Physical Activity
Quality of Life
Ecological Analysis
Dietary Patterns
Weight Status
Neighborhood Environment
Food Environment
Recreation Environment
Lead sponsor: University of California, San Diego
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
First posted: 2008-02-06
Enrollment: 954
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Maximum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: ECOLOGIC_OR_COMMUNITY
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Participants will be selected from identified neighboorhoods in the Seattle-King County, WA and Baltimore-Washington, DC areas.

Brief summary: Many teenagers have unhealthy eating habits and do not get enough physical activity. This study will examine whether the neighborhood in which a teenager lives affects his/her quality of life, physical activity levels, and eating habits.

Detailed description: Obesity is an increasingly important health problem in the United States, particularly among adolescents. Previous studies among adults have shown that people who live in neighborhoods with good "walkability" and recreational environments have increased physical activity levels, and some studies have suggested that there is a relationship between the neighborhood food environment and eating patterns. While these concepts have been studied in adults, more research is needed on the effect of the neighborhood environment on adolescents. In this study, adolescents who live in select neighborhoods in Seattle-King County, WA and Baltimore-Washington, DC will be enrolled. Forty-eight neighborhoods in these areas will be studied, with researchers taking into account the neighborhoods' walkability levels (e.g., combination of street connectivity, residential density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio) and median income levels. Study researchers will examine and create formulas to measure walkability, pedestrian infrastructure, public recreation space, and nutrition environment quality. Researchers will also examine crime and weather patterns; psychosocial variables; parent support; and perceived neighborhood, school, and home environments. Overall, this study will evaluate the ability of a research model to explain the variation in physical activity levels, sedentary behavior, dietary patterns, and weight among adolescents, with an emphasis on neighborhood environment.

There will be no study visits for this study: participation will take place entirely through the mail, phone, or internet. Participants will include adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16 years old and their parents, all of whom live in the identified study neighborhoods. At the time of study entry, adolescents will complete a questionnaire on neighborhood and safety issues, diet, physical activity habits and places where activity occurs, grades, school policies and parental rules that affect physical activity and eating, and the support they get from people regarding healthy eating and physical activity. One parent of each adolescent will also complete a neighborhood information questionnaire. Adolescents will measure their height, weight, and waist circumference and send the measurements to study staff along with the questionnaire. Next, a 4-week period, study staff will call adolescents on three random days and collect information on their diet in the previous 24 hours. During this period, adolescents will wear an activity meter and a GPS monitor for 7 consecutive days and will mail the devices to study staff for analysis.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Child is between 12 and 16 years old
* Child and parent live in identified block group
* Child and parent speak English
* Child attends middle school or high school

Exclusion Criteria:

* Child must not have a diagnosed thought disorder, suicidality, substance abuse disorder, or other psychological or medical condition that would prevent full participation in the study
* Child must not have a disability or illness that would prevent moderate intensity physical activity
* Child must not have an eating disturbance indicative of significant eating disorder pathology

Primary outcomes:
measure: Physical Activity measured with accelerometer
timeFrame: Time 1
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Diet measured with 24 hour dietary recall interviews
timeFrame: Time 1
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: San Diego
country: United States
facility: University of California San Diego
state: California
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: University of California, San Diego
name: James F. Sallis, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: