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Challenge!, a Health Promotion/ Obesity Prevention Program for Teens

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Overweight
Interventions
Behavioral: Challenge!
Registration Number
NCT00746083
Lead Sponsor
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Brief Summary

The purpose of Challenge! is to determine if adolescents enrolled in a health promotion/ obesity prevention program will have a healthier BMI-for-age z-score and body composition (body fat %), will consume a healthier diet, and engage in higher levels of physical activity compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time.

Detailed Description

Pediatric overweight is a major public health problem in the US, with the prevalence of overweight among children of all ages increasing dramatically over the past several decades. Interventions aimed at reducing the increased weight gain during adolescence have produced mixed results.

Challenge! is a randomized controlled trial for health promotion/ obesity prevention targeting low-income, urban, African American adolescents. Healthy adolescents were recruited from an urban medical center and from local middle schools. Weight status was not part of the inclusion criteria.

The intervention was home- and community-based and delivered one-on-one to each adolescent by a college-age "personal trainer". The intervention focused on goal-setting, consuming a healthy diet (increase fruits, vegetables, and water, and decrease high-fat snack and convenience foods), and increasing physical activity. We hypothesized that the teens enrolled in the intervention would have a healthier BMI-for-age z-score and a healthier body composition (body fat %) compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time. Additionally, we hypothesized that those enrolled in the intervention would consume healthier diets and have higher levels of physical activity compared to those that did not receive the intervention over time.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
235
Inclusion Criteria
  • Ages 11-16, willing to participate in a randomized controlled trial for health promotion
Exclusion Criteria
  • Outside of age range

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Intervention groupChallenge!-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
BMI-for-age z-score and percentiles (measured weight and height, self-reported gender and date of birth)and Body composition (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis)2 years
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Physical Activity (accelerometry and self-report) Diet (Food frequency questionnaire)2 years

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Maryland School of Medicine

🇺🇸

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

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