Testing the Feasibility and Preliminary Effect of Summer Camp

Testing the Feasibility and Preliminary Effect of Summer Day Camp on Excess Summer Weight Gain in Children From Low-income Communities

This pilot randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of randomizing children, ages 6-12 years from two low-income communities in Rhode Island, to attend a summer day camp (CAMP) or to experience summer as usual (SAU). Children randomized to CAMP attended a Boys and Girls Club summer day camp for 8-weeks in summer 2017 or 2018. As part of the consent process, children randomized to SAU agreed to experience an unstructured summer (i.e. not enroll in more than one week of summer camp, summer school or other structured summer programming). Primary feasibility outcomes included retention, engagement and completion of midsummer measures. Secondary outcomes, change in BMIz (a proxy for excess summer weight gain), physical activity engagement, sedentary behavior, and diet (energy intake and diet quality), were collected by blinded research staff at the end of the school year, midsummer and the end of the summer.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Childhood Obesity Prevention
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Boys and Girls Club summer day camp

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 94
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02906
      • The Miriam Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school
• Speak English (for purposes of camp participation)
• Agree, along with their parent(s), to randomization.

Exclusion Criteria:

• A medical condition that interferes with participation in physical activity
• Enrollment in summer programming (camp, summer school, etc) for more than one week

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: CAMP; Children randomized to CAMP were enrolled in the Boys and Girls Club Camp in one of two low-income Rhode Island communities in summer 2017 or 2018 for 7-weeks in 2017 and 8-weeks in 2018 due to a delayed end to the 2017 school year (i.e. snow days). Camp was offered daily from 8:30 to 4:30.	Behavioral: Boys and Girls Club summer day camp; Daily camp activities included sports, games, obstacle courses, swimming and boating, summer learning and arts and crafts. Lunch was served daily via the USDA's Summer Food Service Program.
No Intervention: Summer As Usual; Children randomized to the SAU group were asked to experience an unstructured summer as otherwise planned by their parent / guardian. They agreed to not attend structured summer programming (i.e. camp, summer school, or day care) for more than one week over the summer so as to provide an inactive control group for comparison to those in CAMP.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Retention	Number of participants who completed both baseline and end of summer assessments	Baseline to end of summer; 8 weeks
Camp Attendance	Number of days children attended the Boys and Girls Club Camp	8 weeks
Participation in Summer Activities	Number of days children attended camp, summer school, or day care over the summer	8 weeks
Completion of study measures	Number of participants who completed three 24-hour diet recalls and/or 7-days of actigraphy at baseline and mid-summer assessment visits	Baseline (May / June); Midsummer (mid-July)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Excess summer weight gain	Change in BMIz	Baseline to end of summer; 8 weeks
Physical Activity	Change in minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as measured by ActiGraph accelerometer	4-6 weeks (from baseline (end of May / beginning of June) to mid-summer (mid-July))
Sedentary Behavior	Change in percent time spent sedentary as measured by ActiGraph accelerometer	4-6 weeks (from baseline (end of May / beginning of June) to mid-summer (mid-July))
Energy Intake	Change in total energy intake as measured from 3 non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls	4-6 weeks (from baseline (end of May / beginning of June) to mid-summer (mid-July))
Diet Quality	Change in Diet Quality as measured by the HEI-2015 from three non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls	4-6 weeks (from baseline (end of May / beginning of June) to mid-summer (mid-July))

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Miriam Hospital
• Collaborators: Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Evans EW, Wing RR, Pierre DF, Howie WC, Brinker M, Jelalian E. Testing the effect of summer camp on excess summer weight gain in youth from low-income households: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2020 Nov 17;20(1):1732. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09806-y.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 17, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 22, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): August 22, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 3, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): September 11, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 11, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2019
• Last Verified: August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Diet; Summer Camp; Child overweight / obesity
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 710-9073

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