Behaviorally Oriented Nutrition Education at a Russian Summer Camp

Behaviorally Oriented Nutrition Education at a Russian Summer Camp: A Quasi-experimental Superiority Trial

Healthful eating is a core component of a healthy lifestyle that is associated with lower risk of obesity and chronic disease. Although adolescent health promotion programs have been extensively evaluated and applied in English-speaking Western developed nations, there is very little published literature in the Russian context. Our study seeks to determine the relative effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle intervention consisting of nutrition education at a Russian camp. Investigators will determine the impact of behaviorally focused nutrition education on nutrition knowledge, food choice, attitude, and self-efficacy for healthful eating, compared to standard nutrition education.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Healthy Eating
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Behavioral nutrition education

Detailed Description

The project consists of the evaluation of two evidence-based nutrition education programs.

Setting and participants: A random selection of all youth with parental consent for the program will comprise the sample of 40 boys and girls, ages 8-12y. Children with food allergies (to fruits, vegetables, nuts, crackers, corn pops, cookies) will be ineligible for participation. Participants will be randomly assigned to either behaviorally oriented nutrition education or standard nutrition education group (comparison group). Measures: Questionnaires will be completed by each participant at the baseline (the first day) and post-intervention (the last session day). The questionnaire addresses nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy and enjoyment of fruit and vegetable consumption. Controlled observation of healthy/unhealthy snack selection: at the baseline and post-intervention, kids will select snacks first from a menu (individual measure) and then a buffet (group measure) with 3 healthy (fruits and vegetables, nuts) and 3 unhealthy (crackers, corn pops, cookies) snack options. Measurements of height, weight, and waist circumference will be taken prior to the first nutrition education session. Demographics: Investigators will obtain information on age, gender, ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, and parental education level via questionnaire. Procedures: Parents will be informed about potential for child to be involved in healthful nutrition and physical activity at camper check-in. After an informed consent is signed, parents/caregivers and the participant will fill out baseline questionnaires. The parent survey will ask about their child's ethnicity, parental education level, and family socioeconomic status.

Each participant will privately have their height, weight, and waist circumference measured prior to start of study. Participants will attend 45 minute sessions from Monday to Friday throughout 3 weeks at the camp. Each session will be held using different modules from the evidence-based HOP'N After School program. The difference in sessions between the intervention and comparison group will be that the intervention group will get both nutrition education and skill-training component during the session (for example, creating a healthy snack, playing games focusing on enjoyment of fruit and vegetable consumption); the control group will not receive the skill-training component, but will get the same nutrition knowledge as the intervention group. Controlled observation snack tests will take place at the beginning and at the end of the program (baseline and post-intervention).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children attending Yantar, a summer camp in the Northwestern part of Russia (Veshniaki village, Cherepovets district, Vologda region),
• Children of parents who provide permission to participate in a research study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children outside the 8-12y age range
• Children not randomly selected to participate in nutrition education classes for three weeks.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: behavioral nutrition education; Set of curricular nutrition education modules, previously developed and based on Social Cognitive Theory, for the HOP'N After-School program, with additional materials from MyPlate. Materials were employed to increase healthy eating behavioral capability, self-efficacy, attitudes, and enjoyment. Topics included: 1) nutrition label literacy; 2) drinking water; 3) eating colors of the rainbow; 4) healthful snacks; 5) benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption; 6) moving more and sitting less; and 7) taking healthy habits home.	Behavioral: Behavioral nutrition education; Education aimed at improving knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dietary intake, with a focus on impacting theorized mediators of nutrition-related behavior.
Experimental: behavioral nutrition education plus skills; Set of curricular nutrition education modules, previously developed and based on Social Cognitive Theory for the HOP'N After-School program, with additional materials from MyPlate. Materials were employed to increase healthy eating behavioral capability, self-efficacy, attitudes, and enjoyment. Topics included:1) nutrition label literacy;2) drinking water;3) eating colors of the rainbow;4) healthful snacks;5) benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption;6) moving more and sitting less;and 7) taking healthy habits home. Designed to differ from behavioral nutrition education condition by devoting at least 15 minutes of each session to an additional behavioral skills training component. The behavioral skills component was designed to bolster behavioral capability, healthy eating attitudes, self-efficacy, and proxy efficacy with activities such as snack preparation sessions, role-playing games, fruit and vegetable tasting, and playing games that promoted healthier dietary behaviors.	Behavioral: Behavioral nutrition education; Education aimed at improving knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dietary intake, with a focus on impacting theorized mediators of nutrition-related behavior.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy eating choices	Objective selection of two snacks for consumption from a menu of six choices (direct observation)	Change from Baseline at 3 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Nutrition knowledge	Questionnaire assessing knowledge related to healthy eating	Change from Baseline at 3 weeks
Healthy eating attitudes	Questionnaire assessing attitudes related to healthy eating	Change from Baseline at 3 weeks
Fruit and vegetable self-efficacy	Questionnaire assessing self-efficacy related to eating fruits and vegetables	Change from Baseline at 3 weeks
Fruit and vegetable enjoyment	Questionnaire assessing enjoyment related to eating fruits and vegetables	Change from Baseline at 3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Kansas State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Richard R Rosenkranz, PhD, Kansas State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 28, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): May 15, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 22, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 13, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 13, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2017
• Last Verified: March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: nutrition education; Fruit; Vegetables
• Other Study ID Numbers: KSU-CHE-FNDH-RussCamp

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Study Data/Documents

1. preliminary results
   Information comments: Rodicheva master's thesis document with preliminary analyses

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No