Providing Healthy Food Access and Physical Activity Opportunities at Boy Scouts of America Summer Camp

A Collaborative Approach to Providing Healthy Food Access and Sustainable Physical Activity Opportunities at Boy Scouts of America Summer Camp

To measure impact of improved healthy food access and physical activity opportunities at summer Boy Scout camp, a four-week intervention to address nutrition and physical activity with youth (n=911) and adults (n=247) was conducted at Bashore Scout Reservation in Jonestown, Pennsylvania between June and July of 2016. Intervention components included dining hall menu modifications, healthy messaging, introduction of nutritious snacks available for purchase, and a physical activity challenge.

Menu modifications resulted in improved satisfaction scores related to portion sizes (+28%) and variety (+14%), decreased plate waste, and consistent food costs. Introduction of nutritious snacks at Trading Post resulted in increased satisfaction (+13%) and increased sales per person (+20%). Physical activity increased (+22%) as a result of a step competition between troops. Small changes towards a healthier camp were widely accepted and successful, indicating potential for translation to other camps within the organization.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Childhood Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Focus Group with Participants

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1158

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Boy Scout staff, troop leader or parent of Boy Scout camper

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age: ≥18 years
2. Sex: Male or female
3. Fluent in written and spoken English
4. Boy Scout staff, troop leader or parent of Boy Scout camper

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Not Fluent in written and spoken English
2. Non Boy Scout stafftroop leader or not a parent of a Boy Scout camper
3. Decisional impairment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Focus Group	Behavioral: Focus Group with Participants; Focus groups with leaders (18+) to investigate tolerance to healthy initiatives

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Efficacy of intervention as assessed through focus groups and evaluation surveys	Feedback from troop leaders informed researchers concerning how scouts felt about and how receptive scouts are to healthy initiatives.	June 2016- August 2016

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Collaborators: Boy Scouts of America

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 30, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 20, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 25, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): October 30, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 30, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 25, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescent; Physical Activity; Nutrition
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00005462

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

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