LA Sprouts: The Impact of Gardening and Nutrition Education on Childhood Obesity in Latino Youth

NCT ID: NCT02291146

Last Updated: 2014-11-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 421 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2011-07-31
• Study Completion Date: 2013-12-31

Brief Summary

The overall goal of this project is to conduct a randomized controlled 12-week after school, gardening, nutrition and cooking program (called "LA Sprouts") to improve dietary intake and reduce obesity in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students (ages 8-12 years) in Los Angeles. Approximately 400 3rd - 5th grade students participating in the LA's Best after school program will participate. Four elementary schools in Los Angeles will be selected to participate in the study. Schools will be randomized by region to either receive the intervention (LA Sprouts; 2 schools, n=200 students) or serve as controls (received a delayed intervention program one school semester later; 2 schools, n=200 students). The LA Sprouts intervention will take place at the elementary schools, with gardens on campus specially designed and built for this project. The program will be held once a week for 12 weeks and will consist of a 45-minute gardening lesson, taught by Master Gardeners from the University of California Cooperative Extension (supervised by Nicole Gatto, MPH, PhD), and a 45-minute nutrition education and cooking lesson, taught by USC a Nutrition Educator (supervised by Jaimie Davis, PhD, RD). Measures of childhood obesity (i.e., body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentages), blood pressure, metabolic function (fasting blood glucose, insulin and lipids), dietary intake and related behaviors, and school performance will be measured before and after the implementation of the program in both intervention and control participants. Approximately 10 additional students of the same age will be asked to participate in a focus group to evaluate the questionnaire developed for this study. In addition, approximately 20 additonal students of the same age will be asked to participate in a test-retest session to validate the reliability of the questionnaire.

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

LA Sprouts intervention

The intervention classes will be taught during a 90-minute session once a week for 12 weeks. Participants will receive a 45-minute gardening lesson, taught by a Master Gardener (supervised by Dr. Gatto). This lesson will include learning how to plant, maintain and harvest various fruits and vegetables. Supplementing the gardening lesson, a USC nutrition educator, with help from various graduate students (supervised by PI Dr. Davis), will lead a 45-minute cooking activity and nutrition education lesson. Every participant will participate in the cooking activity and sample the food. The program will include lessons on growing crops that have cultural significance to Latino youth such as nopales, beans, corn and squash (the latter three crops are commonly referred to as "the three sisters").

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

LA Sprouts intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

see arm 1 description

control

Approximately 200 students in the second region who are enrolled in LA's Best will serve as control participants. After the 12-week intervention is conducted and all post-testing measures are collected on controls, a vegetable/fruit garden will be built at both control schools and the LA Sprouts program will be taught to all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in LAs Best and their parents at the control school as a delayed intervention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

LA Sprouts intervention

see arm 1 description

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Normal, Overweight and Obese Children: Investigators will attempt to obtain a natural selection of normal weight children (age- & sex-specific BMI < 85th percentile based on CDC BMI growth charts (40) and overweight and obese children (BMI ≥ 85th percentile). Based on preliminary data from these areas, investigators expect that at least 50% of the sample will be overweight or obese. There will not be an upper BMI limit.

Gender & Age: Investigators will attempt to enroll equal numbers of female and male students in 3rd through 5th grades (8-12 years of age).

Latino origin: This study will include all ethnicities, however the selected schools are >90% Latino.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 8 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 12 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Loma Linda University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Texas at Austin

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, Los Angeles

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Annenberg Foundation

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Southern California

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Donna Spruijt-Metz

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Donna Spruijt-Metz, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Southern California

Locations

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California, United States

Countries

United States

References

Davis JN, Martinez LC, Spruijt-Metz D, Gatto NM. LA Sprouts: A 12-Week Gardening, Nutrition, and Cooking Randomized Control Trial Improves Determinants of Dietary Behaviors. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2016 Jan;48(1):2-11.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2015.08.009. Epub 2015 Dec 10.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 26453367 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

NIH R21 DK094066-02

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id