There is a worldwide pandemic of obesity with far-reaching consequences for the health of our nation. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Prevention of obesity, especially in children, has been deemed by public health policy makers to be one of the most important objectives for our country. Obesity disproportionately affects citizens of minority and low socioeconomic status. A consensus of opinion has formed that the recently observed increased prevalence of obesity is caused by environmental and behavioral factors that favor easy access to high calorie foods and sedentary behavior. This prevention project, called LA Health, will test whether modification of these environmental and behavioral factors can prevent inappropriate weight gain in children who are enrolled in the fourth to sixth grades during Year 1. The primary aims of the LA Health project are to test the efficacy of two school-based approaches for obesity prevention. The two approaches are derived from two NIH-funded pilot studies called the HIPTeens project (a secondary prevention program) and the Wise Mind project (a primary prevention program). The study will test the efficacy of primary prevention alone and a combination of primary and secondary prevention in comparison to a no-intervention control group using a cluster randomization research design, with 18 school clusters randomly assigned to the three treatment arms. The project will collaborate with a USDE funded project, LA GEAR UP, to test the relative efficacy of obesity prevention programs for children who come from economically disadvantaged environments. The LA GEAR UP program is designed to enhance educational achievement. Since LA GEAR UP will be implemented in all 18 schools, all of the intervention arms, including no-intervention, will be combined with an academic enhancement program. The study will span three years and will provide critical tests of strategies that modify the child's environment as a primary prevention strategy and provide health behavior modification via classroom instruction and internet counseling as a secondary prevention strategy. The study will also recruit a similar (but smaller) sample of students to measure changes in body weight relative to height, gender, and age over the same three-year period. This observation only control group will be studied to evaluate secular trends in changes in body weight so that body weight changes observed in the randomized trial can be interpreted within the context of stable versus unstable population changes in body weight. The results of this investigation will significantly impact public health policy related to obesity prevention in rural communities, minority communities, and in children from families that are economically disadvantaged.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD048483-04
Application #
7640839
Study Section
Community-Level Health Promotion Study Section (CLHP)
Program Officer
Haverkos, Lynne
Project Start
2006-08-01
Project End
2011-06-30
Budget Start
2009-07-01
Budget End
2011-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$397,579
Indirect Cost
Name
Lsu Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
611012324
City
Baton Rouge
State
LA
Country
United States
Zip Code
70808
Hawkins, Keely R; Burton, Jeffrey H; Apolzan, John W et al. (2018) Efficacy of a school-based obesity prevention intervention at reducing added sugar and sodium in children's school lunches: the LA Health randomized controlled trial. Int J Obes (Lond) 42:1845-1852
Williamson, Donald A; Han, Hongmei; Johnson, William D et al. (2013) Modification of the school cafeteria environment can impact childhood nutrition. Results from the Wise Mind and LA Health studies. Appetite 61:77-84
LeBlanc, Monique M; Martin, Corby K; Han, Hongmei et al. (2012) Adiposity and physical activity are not related to academic achievement in school-aged children. J Dev Behav Pediatr 33:486-94
Williamson, Donald A; Champagne, Catherine M; Harsha, David W et al. (2012) Effect of an environmental school-based obesity prevention program on changes in body fat and body weight: a randomized trial. Obesity (Silver Spring) 20:1653-61
Newton, Robert L; Thomson, Jessica L; Rau, Kristi K et al. (2011) Psychometric characteristics of process evaluation measures for a rural school-based childhood obesity prevention study: Louisiana Health. Am J Health Promot 25:417-21
Newton, Robert L; Han, Hongmei; Sothern, Melinda et al. (2011) Accelerometry measured ethnic differences in activity in rural adolescents. J Phys Act Health 8:287-95
Williamson, Donald A; Han, Hongmei; Johnson, William D et al. (2011) Longitudinal study of body weight changes in children: who is gaining and who is losing weight. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19:667-70
Gabriele, Jeanne M; Stewart, Tiffany M; Sample, Alicia et al. (2010) Development of an internet-based obesity prevention program for children. J Diabetes Sci Technol 4:723-32
Martin, Corby K; Thomson, Jessica L; LeBlanc, Monique M et al. (2010) Children in school cafeterias select foods containing more saturated fat and energy than the Institute of Medicine recommendations. J Nutr 140:1653-60
Williamson, Donald A; Champagne, Catherine M; Han, Hongmei et al. (2009) Increased obesity in children living in rural communities of Louisiana. Int J Pediatr Obes 4:160-5

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