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

NCT02291146 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: NIH R21 DK094066-02
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 421
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

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

Keywords

gardening; cooking; nutrition education; Hispanic Americans

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• change in adiposity

  measured by BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percentages (via Tanita scale)

  baseline and 12 weeks

• change in blood pressure

  baseline and 12 weeks

• change in metabolic function

  measured by fasting glucose, insulin and lipids

  baseline and 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• change in dietary intake

  basline and 12 weeks

• change in determinants of fruit and vegetable intake

  basline and 12 weeks

Other Outcomes (1)

• change in school engagement

  basline and 12 weeks

Study Arms (2)

LA Sprouts intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

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").

Behavioral: LA Sprouts intervention

control

NO INTERVENTION

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.

Interventions

LA Sprouts intervention BEHAVIORAL

see arm 1 description

LA Sprouts intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• 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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern California: lead
• Loma Linda University: collaborator
• University of Texas at Austin: collaborator
• University of California, Los Angeles: collaborator
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): collaborator
• Annenberg Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California, 90089, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• 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.

  PMID: 26453367 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Obesity; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Donna Spruijt-Metz, PhD

  University of Southern California

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 24, 2014
• First Posted: November 14, 2014
• Study Start: July 1, 2011
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2013
• Study Completion: December 1, 2013
• Last Updated: November 14, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-11

Locations

US (1)