The GREEN Project Lunch Box Study

Health Communication Clinical Trial

Official title:

The GREEN (Growing Right: Eating Eco-Friendly & Nutritious) Project Lunch Box Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01573845
• Other study ID #: 1R01HD065888-01
• Secondary ID: 1R01HD065888
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: April 3, 2012
• Last updated: March 23, 2015
• Start date: September 2011
• Est. completion date: July 2013

Study information

• Verified date: March 2015
• Source: Tufts University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The central hypothesis of The GREEN Project Lunch Box Study is that a school-based communication campaign that combines healthy eating and eco-friendly messages will improve the quality of foods that children bring from home to school more than a healthy eating campaign alone and compared to a control/delayed intervention condition at the end of one school year.

Description:

The proposed intervention seeks to improve the quality of foods brought to school from home by taking advantage of a natural synergy between healthy eating and eco-friendly behaviors to increase motivation to adopt healthy eating behaviors. The project involves the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel, school based communications campaign to simultaneously improve the nutrition quality and eco-friendliness of foods that elementary school children bring from home to school.

The intervention is a theory-based multi-channel communications campaign based on qualitative research with the target population: children in grades three and four in public schools in Eastern Massachusetts and their caregivers. Schools were randomized to one of three conditions: (1) a campaign that includes healthy eating and eco-friendly messages; (2) a campaign that includes healthy eating messages only; and (3) a delayed healthy eating eco-friendly campaign after serving as a control group. Foods brought from home and the packaging associated with those foods will be assessed at baseline and at the end of the school year using a photographic technique.

The primary outcome of interest is change in the number of servings of fruits and vegetables. Secondary outcomes will include changes in the quantity of sugar-sweetened beverages; changes in processed, energy-dense foods; and changes in sugar sweetened beverages brought from home. We will also be able to assess changes in trash associated with foods brought from home.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 979
• Est. completion date: July 2013
• Est. primary completion date: June 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

CHILD PARTICIPANTS

Inclusion Criteria:

• 3rd or 4th grade student in participating classroom

• Brings food from home to school at least 3 days per week

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not a 3rd or 4th grade student

• Not enrolled in a participating classroom

• Does not bring food from home to school at least three days per week

PARENT/CARETAKER PARTICIPANTS

Inclusion Criteria:

• Child is a 3rd or 4th grade student in participating classroom

• Child brings food from home to school at least 3 days per week

Exclusion Criteria:

• Child is not a 3rd or 4th grade student

• Child is not enrolled in a participating classroom

• Child does not bring food from home to school at least three days per week

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Health Communication

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Healthy Eating + Eco-Friendly Campaign
Participants receive a 6-month school-based campaign that includes: A 22-lesson classroom curriculum Homework activities that involve the family Monthly parent newsletters A food shopping and packing guide for parents Food demonstrations A poster contest School wide announcements
• Healthy Eating Campaign
Participants receive a 6-month school-based campaign that includes: A 22-lesson classroom curriculum Homework activities that involve the family Monthly parent newsletters A food shopping and packing guide for parents Food demonstrations A poster contest School wide announcements

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Tufts University	Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

References & Publications (2)

Goldberg JP, Folta SC, Eliasziw M, Koch-Weser S, Economos CD, Hubbard KL, Tanskey LA, Wright CM, Must A. Great Taste, Less Waste: a cluster-randomized trial using a communications campaign to improve the quality of foods brought from home to school by ele — View Citation

Hubbard KL, Must A, Eliasziw M, Folta SC, Goldberg J. What's in children's backpacks: foods brought from home. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014 Sep;114(9):1424-31. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2014.05.010. Epub 2014 Jul 16. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Changes in the quantity of fruit and vegetables brought from home to school		6 months	No
Secondary	Changes in the quantity of sugar-sweetened beverages brought from home to school		6 months	No
Secondary	Changes in the quantity of processed, energy-dense foods brought from home to school		6 months	No
Secondary	Changes in trash weight associated with foods brought from home to school		6 months	No