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The Study Estimates the Longitudinal Impact of a Gamified Health Education App on Students' Health and Learning Outcomes

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Physical Inactivity
Nutrition, Healthy
COVID-19
Health Behavior
Habit, Diet
Infectious Disease
Interventions
Behavioral: FYA-003
Registration Number
NCT05458141
Lead Sponsor
Carnegie Mellon University
Brief Summary

The primary aim of this study is to assess and quantify the longitudinal impact of a mobile App-based module - FYA-003 - which is a gamified health education module for children promoting nutrition, physical activity, health hygiene, and infectious disease risk reduction within the clinically proven app fooya!, on the dietary and physical activity habits, hygiene practices, clinical outcome measures, and related knowledge of children and their caregivers. The app will be delivered in the classroom setting through school-based health education.

Detailed Description

A 2-arm cluster randomized controlled trial with pre-, during- and post-treatment measurements will be conducted in a school in Chennai (India) - Panchayat Union Middle School (PUMS), Katchipedu - to assess and quantify the longitudinal impact of a proposed Digital Vaccine candidate, called FYA-003®, on students' knowledge, behaviors and outcomes related to diet, physical activity and health hygiene. After following the protocol for recruitment and informed consent, the investigators will pair up grades in the school (site) in consecutive order, such as grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8, and randomly assign one grade in the pair to Group 1 and the other to Group 2. These pairs are assumed to be close to each other in age, maturity levels, health related knowledge, and exposure to mobile apps, hence appropriate for pairing up for the study.

A team of research staff located in Chennai will coordinate the execution of the experiment. After following the protocol for participation by the school administrator and staff, and the protocol for student recruitment and informed consent, the investigators will adopt a cluster-randomized trial design, where treatment assignment will be done at the grade level. Actual food choice, clinical measurements, survey data, and food logs will be collected by the site PI with support from a research project coordinator during weekly visits to the school. Game play data will be collected automatically whenever the mobile device is connected to the internet and will be downloaded to a secure server after the school visits. The research team will coordinate the gameplay timing with the school officials.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
240
Inclusion Criteria
  • Age 5-14
  • Parents willing to participate (fill out parent surveys)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Children physically unable to use a device
  • Children with special needs

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Group 1: Usual Education + Weekly Exposure to FYA-003FYA-003Students in grades assigned to Group 1 play FYA-003 in the classroom for 30 minutes every week for 12 weeks on a day at a time determined by the school \& research team.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Health Knowledge Score - BaselineBaseline

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Health Knowledge Score - Week 12 + 3mo3 months after Week 12

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Health Knowledge Score - Week 12Week 12

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - Week 12Week 12

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Health Knowledge Score - Week 4Week 4

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Health Knowledge Score - Week 8Week 8

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Health Knowledge Score - Week 12 + 6mo6 months after Week 12

Our primary outcome of interest is the health knowledge score, calculated based on students' survey responses to questions testing their knowledge on health hygiene, physical activity, and nutrition. This will be measured as a percentage. Higher percentages indicate a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - Week 12 + 3mo3 months after Week 12

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - BaselineBaseline

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - Week 4Week 4

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - Week 8Week 8

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Healthy Food Choice Score - Week 12 + 6mo6 months after Week 12

Observed "Good Food" choice indicator, as measured based on actual food choices by participants. This is a binary 0-1 value. 1 indicates a better outcome.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Clinical biomarkers: BMI BaselineBaseline

Body Mass Index of participants

Food Log Health Score - Week 12 + 6mo6 months after Week 12

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Clinical biomarkers: BMI Week 12Week 12

Body Mass Index of participants

Healthy Lifestyle Score - Week 12Week 12

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Healthy Lifestyle Score - Week 12 + 3mo3 months after Week 12

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Clinical biomarkers: BMI Week 12 + 6mo6 months after Week 12

Body Mass Index of participants

Clinical biomarkers: BMI Week 12 + 3mo3 months after Week 12

Body Mass Index of participants

Food Log Health Score - Week 12Week 8, Week 12, 3 months after Week 12, 6 months after Week 12

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Clinical biomarkers: Average TemperatureCaptured every week (Week 1 - Week 12)

Average temperature of participants captured every weekly visit

Food Log Health Score - BaselineBaseline

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Food Log Health Score - Week 4Week 4

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Food Log Health Score - Week 8Week 8

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Healthy Lifestyle Score - Week 12 + 6mo6 months after Week 12

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Food Log Health Score - Week 12 + 3mo3 months after Week 12

Proportion of "Healthy" food items consumed in the weekly food logs recorded by the participants. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Healthy Lifestyle Score - BaselineBaseline

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Healthy Lifestyle Score - Week 4Week 4

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Healthy Lifestyle Score - Week 8Week 8

Self-reported Weekly Healthy Lifestyle Score measured on the basis of participant survey responses to questions on physical activity, nutrition behavior, hygiene habits. Scale of 0 to 100. Higher score means better outcomes.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Panchayat Union Middle School

🇮🇳

Kānchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India

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