Healthy Summer Learners

Phase 1

Completed

Conditions: Academic Acheivement
Overweight and Obesity

Interventions: Behavioral: Healthy Summer Learners
Behavioral: 21st Century Summer Learning Center

Registration Number: NCT03321071

Lead Sponsor: University of South Carolina

Brief Summary: Summer vacation represents a "window of vulnerability" where dramatic declines in both health and academics occur for elementary age children. Currently, there are no summer programs that incorporate curriculum addressing both unhealthy weight gains and academic achievement simultaneously. This work represents an important step towards addressing important public health goals - obesity and learning - through a comprehensive program delivered during a timeframe - summer vacation - where substantial and long-lasting negative effects occur.

Detailed Description: Summer vacation represents an important time away from the school setting for a majority of children attending public school in the US. This break is characterized by large amounts of free time and involvement in a wide variety of formal and informal activities, time spent with friends and family, and travel. Yet for many children, particularly those from low-income households, summer vacation represents a "window of vulnerability" in which dramatic declines in both health and academics occur. During the summer months (typically 3 months) children gain a larger amount of body weight compared to the amount of weight gained over the school year, and weight gain during summer reverses weight losses achieved during school. For academics, it is well established that children from low-income households experience greater declines in reading and math during the summer than their middle-to-upper income peers. Numerous programs that address these issues currently exist (e.g., summer school, summer weight loss or fitness programs). However, these programs are designed and delivered at the expense of the promotion or prevention of the other - academic focus without health or health focus without academics. Our long-term goal is to develop summer programming for widespread dissemination that addresses both lifestyle behaviors (i.e., physical activity and nutrition) and academic performance. The objective of the proposed study is to establish the effectiveness of an innovative "Healthy Summer Learners" (HSL) program for low-income, minority children. The rationale for the proposed research is that no summer programs incorporate curriculum that addresses both unhealthy weight gains and academic achievement simultaneously. This study seeks to fill this void by testing a prototype learning and health-oriented summer program focused on promoting physical activity and nutrition, along with content that provides quality learning experiences to develop reading and math skills. To accomplish this objective, this study will evaluate over 2 summers the effectiveness of a 6-week Healthy Summer Learners program delivered within a Boys \& Girls Club summer camp using a randomized design in a sample of rising 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. The aims of the study are Aim 1: Evaluate the impact of Healthy Summer Learners on children's weight gain and academic performance from beginning (end of Spring school year) to the end of summer (beginning of Fall school year), and Aim 2: Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of Healthy Summer Learners to children, parents, and program staff.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 180

Inclusion Criteria

MAP scores are norm referenced based on typical grade level scores. Students that have scored between the 25th and 75th percentile will be eligible to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

children with severe intellectual or physical disabilities

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Healthy Summer Learners	Healthy Summer Learners	Similar to typical summer day camp procedures, students attending Healthy Summer Learners will be dropped-off and picked-up at camp. The physical activity component of the program was designed with the expertise and input from B\&G Club youth program staff. The academic component was informed by school district personnel. The program was also designed to be analogous to typical summer day camp program in terms of operating weeks (10 weeks) length of program day (i.e., 8am-5pm), and program component time blocks (\~45min-1hr time blocks).
21st Century Learning Center	21st Century Summer Learning Center	Children in this condition will attend a 21st Century Summer Learning Program.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score	Body mass index will be collected in the spring academic semester up to 6 weeks prior to attending HSL and the fall academic semester up to 6 weeks after attending HSL	Measure Description: Centers for Disease Control age and sex-specific Body Mass Index z-scores. A z-score of 0 represents the population mean. Higher or lower z-scores could represent better or worse outcomes as too low could be underweight and too high could indicate overweight or obesity. Children above the 85th percentile are considered overweight while children above the 95th percentile are considered obese
Change in Measures of Academic Progress Reading Scores	MAP reading scores will be collected in the spring academic semester up to 6 weeks prior to attending HSL and the fall academic semester up to 6 weeks after attending HSL	Measure Description: Created by the Northwest Evaluation Association (www.nwea.org), MAP results are widely accepted and used extensively in school-aged children. Scores are reported using the Rasch Unit Scale, a curriculum scale developed using Item Response Theory that estimates student achievement. The Rasch Unit Scale ranges from 140-300 and are norm referenced based on grade. Higher scores indicate better reading profeciency.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Average Minutes Per Day Spent in Sedentary Behavior During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Sedentary time will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Sedentary time will be collected via a wrist placed Fitbit. Negative numbers mean the behavior decreased on days attending while positive numbers indicate the behavior increased on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program. Passive control never attended a structured summer program thus no change can be calculated.
Average Minutes Per Day Screen Time During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Screen time will be collected twice weekly from baseline to 12 weeks	Screen time will be collected via parent proxy report during the summer. Passive control never attended a structured summer program thus no change can be calculated.
Average Number of Healthy Foods Consumed/Day on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Diet will be collected twice weekly from baseline to 12 weeks	Diet will be collected via food frequency questionnaires and the number of healthy and unhealthy foods consumed will be calculated. Negative numbers mean the number of healthy foods consumed decreased on days attending while positive numbers indicate the number of healthy foods consumed increased on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program. Passive control never attended a structured summer program thus no change can be calculated.
Average Minutes Per Day of Sleep During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Sleep will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Sleep time will be collected via a wrist placed Fitbit. Negative numbers mean the behavior decreased on days attending while positive numbers indicate the behavior increased on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program.
Average Minutes Per Day Spent in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Moderate to vigorous physical activity will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Moderate to vigorous physical activity will be collected via a wrist placed Fitbit. Negative numbers mean the behavior decreased on days attending while positive numbers indicate the behavior increased on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program. Passive control never attended a structured summer program thus no change can be calculated.
Average Minutes Per Day Shift in Sleep Onset During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program.	Sleep onset will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Sleep onset will be collected via a wrist placed Fitbit. Negative numbers indicate sleep onset was earlier on days attending while positive numbers indicate sleep onset was later on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program.
Average Minutes Per Day Shift in Sleep Offset During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Sleep offset will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Sleep offset will be collected via a wrist-placed Fitbit. Negative numbers mean sleep offset was earlier on days attending while positive numbers indicate sleep offset was later on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program.
Average Minutes Per Day Shift in Sleep Midpoint During the Summer on Days Attending a Program and Not Attending a Program	Sleep midpoint will be collected daily from baseline to 12 weeks	Sleep midpoint will be collected via a wrist placed Fitbit. Negative numbers mean midpoint was earlier on days attending while positive numbers indicate midpoint was later on days attending. No change is indicated for the passive control as they did not attend a program.