Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

The prevalence of adolescent behaviors that can lead to obesity are alarming, and reduced life expectancy is the future of America's youth if behavioral changes are not implemented to improve health and reduce the obesity burden. Researchers have argued that health literacy is a precursor to health knowledge and is necessary for translating knowledge about healthy choices into behavior, with low health literacy being associated with reduced preventive health behaviors in adults. Given the lack of health literacy-specific interventions addressing adolescents' obesogenic behaviors, the purpose of this study is to examine the preliminary effectiveness of adding a health literacy module to an obesity prevention intervention that addresses adolescents' obesogenic behaviors.


Clinical Trial Description

The rates of pediatric obesity (~19%) and diabetes (0.24%) in the US are alarming and behaviors implicated in obesity and type 2 diabetes are highly prevalent. Approximately 69% and 73% of adolescents consume less than two fruits and vegetables daily respectively, while 53% engage in insufficient physical activity. These behaviors magnify adolescents' immediate and long-term risks for obesity and obesity-related chronic illnesses, as well as complicate the treatment of obesity-related chronic illnesses. Children and adolescents who are obese are four times more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than normal weight children, with serious short and long-term consequences impacting quality of life. Reduced life expectancy is the future of America's youth if behavioral changes are not implemented to improve health and reduce the obesity burden. Reversing current national trends in obesity and type 2 diabetes require novel and sustainable prevention strategies to address children and adolescents' obesogenic behaviors. Adolescence is marked by increased autonomy in decision-making, yet data suggest that adolescents are not equipped with all the skills to make effective health-related behavioral decisions. While health knowledge works in conjunction with motivation and behavioral skills to predict behavior, most existing adolescent interventions target these variables in isolation with modest success. Researchers have argued that health literacy (HL) - the ability to access, understand, and use health information to make informed health decisions - is a precursor to health knowledge and is necessary for translating health knowledge into behavior. Low HL among adults is associated with poor ability to interpret health messages, and results in reduced preventive health behaviors. Further, parent and adolescent HL is negatively related to adolescents' obesity status. Thus, while research on adding HL to existing behavior interventions to improve adolescents' obesity prevention behaviors is lacking, it is expected that the inclusion of HL into existing interventions will increase intervention effectiveness and positive behavior outcomes. The long-term goal of this line of research is to reduce the incidence of obesity in adolescents and by extension reduce the risk for obesity-related chronic illnesses using interventions that address individual and contextual factors related to long-term health decision-making and behavior change. The goal of the proposed study is to examine the effect of adding a HL component to an obesity prevention intervention that addresses adolescents' obesogenic behavior-related health knowledge, motivation, and behavioral skills. The central hypothesis is adolescents receiving HL training as part of an obesity prevention intervention will have higher rates of prevention behaviors than those in the obesity prevention only condition. Study goals will be achieved through the following specific aims: Aim 1: Modify successful components of existing obesity prevention interventions into an interactive digital platform with and without HL for acceptability and usability in adolescents. Approach: Use successful components of existing interventions, our completed preliminary research, and our research teams' expertise to develop an interactive digital intervention including HL, and obesogenic behavior-related health knowledge, motivation, and behavioral skills. Assess and modify the intervention for usability and acceptability among 14-16-year-olds through an iterative process. Aim 2: Determine if the addition of HL training to an interactive digital obesity prevention intervention will improve adolescents' obesity prevention behaviors over the obesity intervention alone. Hypothesis: Adolescents in the obesity prevention plus HL intervention will have higher rates of obesity prevention behaviors at posttest and follow-up compared to the obesity prevention only group. Approach: Conduct a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) intervention (obesity prevention only, obesity prevention/HL) and estimate the intervention's effects on obesogenic behaviors. Adolescents (n = 76; 14-16-year-olds) will be randomly assigned to each condition (38/condition). Conduct pretest, posttest, and 1- and 3-month assessments of HL, obesogenic behaviors, and obesogenic behavior-related motivation, behavioral skills, and knowledge. Outcomes: Intervention completion will result in effect size estimates of improvements in obesity prevention behaviors, health knowledge, motivation, and behavioral skills for both groups with greater improvements for the HL group at posttest and follow-up. The obesity prevention/HL intervention group will also have higher HL at posttest and follow-up. Retention, recruitment, completion and treatment fidelity rates will be established. Innovation & Impact: This study incorporates HL, an understudied but potentially critical factor in adolescents' health behaviors. The intervention will be developed and implemented in a digital format which will increase reach and impact. This is the first study examining the effect of including HL in adolescents' obesity prevention interventions. This study sets the groundwork for a full scale, RCT to assess the benefit of HL training added to an obesity prevention intervention to address adolescents' obesogenic behaviors. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT04252677
Study type Interventional
Source City University of New York, School of Public Health
Contact
Status Active, not recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date November 16, 2022
Completion date December 30, 2023

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Recruiting NCT05156424 - A Comparison of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise to Counteract Treatment Side Effects in Men With Prostate Cancer Phase 1/Phase 2
Completed NCT05108181 - Muscle Typology and Strength Training Adaptations N/A
Recruiting NCT05052918 - The Effect of Exercise and Metformin on Carotid Intima-media Thickness in Patients With Prediabetes N/A
Completed NCT04508270 - Significance of Early Mobilization After VATS-L
Recruiting NCT04994340 - Physical Activity Observatory of Castilla-La Mancha
Completed NCT04815980 - Impact of Pilates on Running Mechanics N/A
Completed NCT05189795 - The Construction of Physical ACtivity Enhancement Scheme (PACES) in Hemodialysis Patients
Completed NCT03683758 - Effects of the FIFA11+ Warm-up Program on Speed, Agility, and Vertical Jump Performance in Adult Female Amateur Soccer Players N/A
Completed NCT05538520 - Effects of Pilates Stretching on Flexibility, Strength, Power and Muscular Endurance N/A
Completed NCT06315036 - Effects of Developmental Gymnastics on Preschoolers' Motor Skills N/A
Completed NCT03171064 - Exercise as a Supportive Measure for Patients Undergoing Checkpoint-inhibitor Treatment Phase 2
Recruiting NCT05496751 - Response Variability to Exercise N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT05029804 - Effect of Walking Exercise Training on Adherence to Disease Management and Metabolic Control in Diabetes N/A
Completed NCT04207359 - Effects of Creatine Supplementation in Breast Cancer Survivors N/A
Completed NCT03832205 - Validation of Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate Measurements by Capaciflectors Placed in Four Locations on the Chest
Completed NCT04099654 - The Effect of Core Stabilization Exercise Program in Obese Subjects Awaiting Bariatric Surgery N/A
Completed NCT03297567 - Physical Therapy Guidelines For Hospitalized Elderly N/A
Completed NCT03477188 - The Effects of Somatosensory and Vestibular Rehabilitation Additional Conventional Therapy on Balance in Patients With Acute Stroke. N/A
Recruiting NCT05956327 - Insight Into Hippocampal Neuroplasticity in Schizophrenia by Investigating Molecular Pathways During Physical Training N/A
Recruiting NCT06018311 - Exercising Together for Hispanic Prostate Cancer Survivor-Caregiver Dyads N/A