Building Better Bones in Children

June 23, 2005 updated by: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Calcium is important for healthy bone growth in children. Poor bone growth and development during childhood can lead to osteoporosis later in life. This study will evaluate a nutrition education program designed to increase the amount of calcium children receive. The study will determine whether the program will result in long-term dietary changes and healthier bones in children.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Increased calcium intake is effective in increasing bone mineral density in children, but the effect disappears when calcium supplements are discontinued. Increased dietary calcium from daily food sources may have a greater impact on bone density than that achieved by calcium supplements. However, studies have not yet demonstrated sustained achievement of increased calcium from food sources. In addition, the effects of baseline calcium intake, bone density, and puberty status may influence bone response to increased dietary calcium. This study will develop, implement, and evaluate a Behavioral Modification-Nutrition Education (BM-NE) Intervention Program designed to promote sustained increases in dietary calcium. The study will quantify the impact of increased dietary calcium on bone density during growth and development and will determine whether the presence of risk factors for low bone density influences compliance with the program.

Participants will be recruited into two groups: a group of healthy children with no known risk factors for low bone density (i.e., no known chronic disease or previous oral steroid exposure), and a group of healthy children with potential risk factors for low bone density (previous fracture from usual childhood activities, daily dietary calcium refusal, lactose intolerance, family history of osteoporosis). Children with and without risk factors will be randomly assigned to participate in an intensive BM-NE intervention group or a usual care group that will receive counseling on bone health. The BM-NE Program will consist of five group sessions for parents and children over 6 weeks. The program will use individualized plans to increase children's calcium intake to 1500 mg per day.

Children will be followed for 3 years. Primary outcome measures will include daily calcium intake and bone mineral density. Data on height, weight, sexual and skeletal maturation, and physical activity will also be collected.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

139

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104-4399
        • The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 10 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  • Height or weight above the third percentile for age
  • Normal weight (< 130% of desirable body weight)
  • English speaking

Exclusion Criteria

  • Significant health condition
  • Medication known to affect growth (e.g., thyroxin, growth hormone, steroid medication)
  • Ritalin or Adderall medication
  • Significant developmental or delay impairment (e.g., autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Collaborators

National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Babette Zemel, Ph.D., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 1999

Study Completion

May 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 19, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 19, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

June 20, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 24, 2005

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2005

Last Verified

May 1, 2003

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01HD037748 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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