Clinical trial NCT02291146: LA Sprouts: The Impact of Gardening and Nutrition Education on Childhood Obesity in Latino Youth
Official title: LA Sprouts: The Impact of Gardening and Nutrition Education on Childhood Obesity in Latino Youth
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Pediatric Obesity
Keywords: gardening
cooking
nutrition education
Hispanic Americans
Lead sponsor: University of Southern California
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Loma Linda University
name: University of Texas at Austin
name: University of California, Los Angeles
name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
name: Annenberg Foundation
First posted: 2014-11-14
Enrollment: 421
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: The overall goal of this project is to conduct a randomized controlled 12-week after school, gardening, nutrition and cooking program (called "LA Sprouts") to improve dietary intake and reduce obesity in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students (ages 8-12 years) in Los Angeles. Approximately 400 3rd - 5th grade students participating in the LA's Best after school program will participate. Four elementary schools in Los Angeles will be selected to participate in the study. Schools will be randomized by region to either receive the intervention (LA Sprouts; 2 schools, n=200 students) or serve as controls (received a delayed intervention program one school semester later; 2 schools, n=200 students). The LA Sprouts intervention will take place at the elementary schools, with gardens on campus specially designed and built for this project. The program will be held once a week for 12 weeks and will consist of a 45-minute gardening lesson, taught by Master Gardeners from the University of California Cooperative Extension (supervised by Nicole Gatto, MPH, PhD), and a 45-minute nutrition education and cooking lesson, taught by USC a Nutrition Educator (supervised by Jaimie Davis, PhD, RD). Measures of childhood obesity (i.e., body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentages), blood pressure, metabolic function (fasting blood glucose, insulin and lipids), dietary intake and related behaviors, and school performance will be measured before and after the implementation of the program in both intervention and control participants. Approximately 10 additional students of the same age will be asked to participate in a focus group to evaluate the questionnaire developed for this study. In addition, approximately 20 additonal students of the same age will be asked to participate in a test-retest session to validate the reliability of the questionnaire.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Normal, Overweight and Obese Children: Investigators will attempt to obtain a natural selection of normal weight children (age- \& sex-specific BMI \< 85th percentile based on CDC BMI growth charts (40) and overweight and obese children (BMI ≥ 85th percentile). Based on preliminary data from these areas, investigators expect that at least 50% of the sample will be overweight or obese. There will not be an upper BMI limit.

Gender \& Age: Investigators will attempt to enroll equal numbers of female and male students in 3rd through 5th grades (8-12 years of age).

Latino origin: This study will include all ethnicities, however the selected schools are \>90% Latino.

Exclusion Criteria:

* The following criteria are exclusionary: presently taking medication(s) or diagnosed with any disease that could influence dietary intake or body composition; previously diagnosed with any major illness since birth (e.g. chronic birth asphyxia, cancer, etc.); any physical, cognitive, or psychological disability that would prevent participation in the study. Participants testing positive for diabetes (as determined from the fasting blood draw) will be referred for treatment. (Note: subjects with pre-diabetes will be eligible for the study). Although participant data may be excluded based on the above exclusion criteria, participation in the program classes may be allowed. Individual cases will be reviewed as they arise.

Primary outcomes:
measure: change in adiposity
timeFrame: baseline and 12 weeks
measure: change in blood pressure
timeFrame: baseline and 12 weeks
measure: change in metabolic function
timeFrame: baseline and 12 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: change in dietary intake
timeFrame: basline and 12 weeks
measure: change in determinants of fruit and vegetable intake
timeFrame: basline and 12 weeks
Other outcomes:
measure: change in school engagement
timeFrame: basline and 12 weeks
Locations:
city: Los Angeles
country: United States
facility: University of Southern California
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Southern California
name: Donna Spruijt-Metz, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Davis JN, Martinez LC, Spruijt-Metz D, Gatto NM. LA Sprouts: A 12-Week Gardening, Nutrition, and Cooking Randomized Control Trial Improves Determinants of Dietary Behaviors. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2016 Jan;48(1):2-11.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2015.08.009. Epub 2015 Dec 10.