Science Engagement to Empower Disadvantaged adoleScents (SEEDS Project)
- Conditions
- Healthy Lifestyle
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Intervention Group
- Registration Number
- NCT05002049
- Lead Sponsor
- University Rovira i Virgili
- Brief Summary
SEEDS is a multicenter 24-month citizen science (CS) cluster randomized controlled study, with interventions conducted in four European countries acting as pilot sites: 1) Greece, 2) The Netherlands, 3) Spain and 4) The United Kingdom. This project will merge CS and traditional approaches and will target high schools located in deprived neighborhoods.
The methodology, that combines CS and traditional science, could build effective cooperation between science and society to empower adolescents from low-income environments to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity, increase their interest in science and improve their critical thinking.
- Detailed Description
SEEDS is a multicenter 24-month citizen science (CS) cluster randomized controlled study, with interventions conducted in four European countries acting as pilot sites: 1) Greece, 2) The Netherlands, 3) Spain and 4) The United Kingdom. This project will merge CS and traditional approaches and will target high schools located in deprived neighborhoods.
The methodology, that combines CS and traditional science, could build effective cooperation between science and society to empower adolescents from low-income environments to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity, increase their interest in science and improve their critical thinking.
The aim is to engage teenagers on this citizen science project to collaborate in all phases of the study: problem definition, data collection, analyses and dissemination. This will empower them to change habits, thereby contributing to behavioural changes. This cluster-randomized control trial involves intervention and control high-schools from deprived areas in the Netherlands, England, Greece and Spain. Teenagers with leadership skills from intervention schools (called ambassadors) and stakeholders will participate in focus groups to gain insights on the barriers and facilitators for healthy lifestyles of teenagers, and how science could help address these. Building on the information of the focus groups, ambassadors, stakeholders and other peers will participate in a collaborative competition event where the SEEDS intervention(s) will be designed. The intervention(s) will be implemented at intervention high-schools. Outcomes in health behaviours and science literacy will be assessed by validated questionnaires at the start and end of the project.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 720
Not provided
Not provided
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Citizen Science Behavioral Intervention Intervention Group The intervention group (IG) participants will receive the whole citizen science intervention of the SEEDS project, and participants will be assessed at baseline and end-of-study.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Physical activity Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Change in physical activity assessed by validated questionnaire HBSC and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C).
HBSC: days a week physically active for a total of at least 60 minutes, frequency of exercise in free time that participants get out of breath or sweat and means of transport to go to school.
PAQ-C: 7-day recall questionnaire that assesses participation in different physical activities, as well as activity during Physical Education, lunch break, recess, after school, in the evenings and at weekends. Each of the 9 questionnaire items is scored between 1 (low) and 5 (high physical activity), and a mean score of all items constitutes the overall PAQ score.Snacking choices Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Change in healthy snacking choices (inside and outside school). This outcome will be assessed by validated questionnaires HBSC (times per week consume healthy and unhealthy snacking choices) and Beverage Frequency Questionnaire ( 7-day food record of beverages). Additionally, questions for assessing the frequency of consumption (times per week and time frame of the day) of each type of snack (chocolates, fruit and vegs, cakes or cookies and chocolates and sweets).
Sedentary time Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Change in prolonged sedentary time. This outcome will be assessed by validated questionnaire HBSC (hours/day spend watching television/ playing computer games/ on computer for purposes other than playing).
Youth interest in life science Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Changes in life science interest. This outcome will be measure by STEM interest survey.
Science capital perception and interest Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Changes in science capital.This outcome will be measure by Science Capital Survey, developed by Archer et al. (2015): The selection of questions includes 4 components of the total Science Capital Survey: Future science job affinity (aspirations), utility of science qualifications, valuing science and scientists, and self-efficacy in science.
Youth interest in science technology engineering and math (STEM) career. Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Changes in STEM career. This outcome will be measure by Attitude towards STEM questionnaire.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Health-related behaviour Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) Health-related behaviour chosen by the ambassadors (each country could decide to include or not): this outcome will be decided after focus group, considering that SEEDS project is an extreme CS project, and ambassadors should be involved in the whole process and choose at least one of the three outcomes. The tool for evaluating this outcome will be developed for each country after focus groups implementation.
Determinants of each of the behaviours Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the main determinants of behaviour are attitude, beliefs, subjective norms and perceived control, which all shape the behavioural intentions. For this purpose, several questions will be included to assess the determinants of behaviours, mainly related to attitudes and environmental factors, also considering the results of the focus groups, according to the guidelines.
Trial Locations
- Locations (4)
Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education Harokopio University, 70, El Venizelou Ave,
🇬🇷Athens, Kallithea, Greece
Institut d'Investigació Sanitaria Pere i Virgili
🇪🇸Reus, Tarragona, Spain
Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, P.O. Box, 2040
🇳🇱Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Netherlands
Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, Sport and Health Sciences; College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter
🇬🇧Exeter, United Kingdom