Experience and Health Impact of University Students Accessing a Digital Nutrition, Fitness and Mindfulness Platform

Dietary choices, quality of life and stress will be evaluated in a sample of 100 undergraduate students who are in their first year of university. Students will be randomized into the following two groups; intervention arm (students who will use a preventative self-care program for 12 weeks) vs. control arm (students who will not use a preventative self-care program for 12 weeks).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Stress; Health Behavior; Nutrition
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: My Viva Plan

Detailed Description

When individuals look after their own health using online applications they can expect similar or even better health outcomes compared to those obtained by using conventional methods. These kind of tools are popular among University students. Due to the many changes and challenges that students face in the first year of University, this sector of our population is at higher risk of presenting nutritional problems, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Recently, a Canadian online application called My Viva Plan® became available. This program is based on preventive self-care and it includes three key pillars of health: nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness. Changes in dietary choices, quality of life and stress will be evaluated in a sample of 100 undergraduate students who are in their first year of university. Students will be randomized into the following two groups; students who will use the program vs. students who will not use the program. Questionnaires regarding physical activity, mindfulness and mental well-being will be evaluated at baseline, week 6 and week 12. Body composition characteristics using bioelectrical impedance analysis will be collected at the start and end of the study (baseline and week 12).

The objective is to determine if the use of an online application based on preventive self-care will result in better food choices, better quality of life, and reduced stress in first year university students.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 97
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1
      • University of Alberta

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 17 years to 30 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• First-year undergraduate university students attending the University of Alberta's North Campus
• Students who are able to complete study assessments in their first year of university
• 17-30 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students with self-reported eating disorders
• Students with self-reported untreated depression, anxiety or other mood disorders
• Students who do not own a device to access the internet (i.e. tablet, computer, laptop, smart phone)
• Students who are not able to communicate in English
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Individuals with pace-makers or electronic implantable devices

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Standard Arm; No use of My Viva Plan.
Experimental: Intervention Arm; Use of My Viva Plan.	Behavioral: My Viva Plan; Use of the online platform, My Viva Plan, to support health and wellness.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Stress	To assess the change in self reported stress from baseline to week 12 using the Stress Indicators Questionnaire by the International Counselling Team.	Baseline, week 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Dietary Choices	To assess the change in dietary choices from baseline to week 12 using three-day food records collected at baseline and week 12.	Baseline, week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alberta
• Collaborators: Mitacs; Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR); Revive Wellness Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Carla Prado, PhD, University of Alberta

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Lieffers JRL, Quintanilha M, Trottier CF, Johnson ST, Mota JF, Prado CM. Experiences with and Perception of a Web-Based Mindfulness, Nutrition, and Fitness Platform Reported by First-Year University Students: A Qualitative Study. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2021 Dec;121(12):2409-2418.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2021.04.019. Epub 2021 Jun 10.
• Trottier CF, Lieffers JRL, Johnson ST, Mota JF, Gill RK, Prado CM. The Impact of a Web-Based Mindfulness, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Platform on the Health Status of First-Year University Students: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Mar 10;10(3):e24534. doi: 10.2196/24534.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 28, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 13, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): July 6, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 16, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 12, 2019
• Last Verified: December 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00079680

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

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