Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents (MEGA) Project

NCT04788303 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CNSG Project
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,232
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This purpose of this study is to assess effects of a comprehensive, school-based nutrition intervention package on anemia status, anthropometric indicators, school performance/attendance, and development indicators among adolescents, and the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nutrition, agriculture, and WASH among parents, in Tanzania.

Conditions

Anemia

Keywords

Anemia; School garden; School lunch; Nutrition; Adolescent health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Anemia status

  Anemia status will be defined using the diagnostic criteria by the World Health Organization. Specifically, the following criteria will be used: \< 12 g/dL for adolescent girls and adolescent boys aged 14 yrs and \< 13 g/dL for adolescent boys aged 15-19 yrs

  Up to one year

Secondary Outcomes (13)

• Height

  Up to one year

• Weight

  Up to one year.

• BMI

  Up to one year

• Knowledge of adolescents regarding nutrition and dietary intake

  Up to one year

• Attitudes of adolescents regarding nutrition and dietary intake

  Up to one year

Study Arms (3)

Full intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Full intervention: school meal, garden, education, and community workshops

Other: School meal, garden, education, and community workshops

Partial intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Partial intervention: garden, education, and community workshops

Other: Garden, education, and community workshops

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control: standard of care

Interventions

School meal, garden, education, and community workshops OTHER

School meal: midday meal provided at intervention schools School garden: garden used to grow crops (which will be used to supplement the school meal in the full intervention schools) Education: agriculture, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) curriculum Community workshops: Led by agricultural extension workers and open to community members, the community workshops will cover nutrition messages, agricultural messages, and hands-on activities on nutrition, agriculture, and WASH.

Also known as: Full intervention package

Full intervention

Garden, education, and community workshops OTHER

School garden: garden used to grow crops Education: agriculture, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) curriculum Community workshops: Led by agricultural extension workers and open to community members, the community workshops will cover nutrition messages, agricultural messages, and hands-on activities on nutrition, agriculture, and WASH.

Also known as: Partial intervention package

Partial intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Adolescents:
• Adolescents aged 14-17 years
• Enrolled in secondary school forms 1 or 2 at study initiation
• Member of one of the selected classes in a participating school
• Consent provided by the parent
• Assent provided by the adolescent
• Fluent in Swahili or English
• Parents:
• Parent or guardian of participating adolescent
• Provides informed consent
• Fluent in Swahili or English
• Teachers:
• Teacher facilitating the meal, garden, and/or education interventions
• Provides informed consent
• Fluent in Swahili or English

You may not qualify if:

• Adolescents:
• No informed consent from parent/guardian or assent from adolescent
• Parents:
• No informed consent
• Teachers:
• No informed consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH): lead
• Africa Academy for Public Health: collaborator
• University of Dodoma: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Dodoma

Dodoma, Tanzania

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Wang D, Katalambula LK, Modest AR, Young T, Ismail A, Mwanyika-Sando M, Tinkasimile A, Mosha D, Malero A, Vuai S, Fawzi WW. Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents (MEGA): study protocol for a cluster randomised trial of an integrated adolescent nutrition intervention in Dodoma, Tanzania. BMJ Open. 2022 Jul 7;12(7):e062085. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062085.

  PMID: 35798513 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anemia

Interventions

Gardens; Educational Status

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hematologic Diseases; Hemic and Lymphatic Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Agriculture; Technology, Industry, and Agriculture; Non-Medical Public and Private Facilities; Socioeconomic Factors; Population Characteristics

Study Officials

• Wafaie W Fawzi, MBBS, MPH, MS, DrPH

  Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

  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: Professor of Nutrition, Epidemiology, and Global Health

Model Details: Six schools will be randomly assigned to receive the full intervention (school meal, garden, and education), partial intervention (garden and education), or control (standard of care). Community workshops will also be provided to parents of adolescents in full and partial intervention schools.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 20, 2021
• First Posted: March 9, 2021
• Study Start: January 24, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2022
• Study Completion: September 30, 2022
• Last Updated: May 3, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TA (1)