Prevention of Unhealthy Weight Gain in Children from Economically Disadvantaged Circumstances: Reducing Obesogenic Behaviors and Increasing Self-Regulation

对于来自低收入家庭的儿童(5-10岁)来说，夏天是一个“脆弱之窗”， 与学年相比，体重增加和健康下降的速度更快。我们假设 夏季体重加速增加和体能丧失的原因是儿童参与了更多的 在夏季加速肥胖的行为(即饮食、睡眠、体力活动、久坐行为) 不健康的体重增加和健康损失。有证据表明，有组织的日子里的组成部分(例如，学校 天)对这些行为有积极的影响。也有证据表明嵌入在 有组织的日子与孩子的自我调节有关。在夏季，日营(例如，上午7点至下午5点，8至10周) 是一个可以为孩子们提供一个有条理的、健康的环境的环境。然而，绝大多数儿童 由于成本的原因，低收入家庭在夏季获得这些方案的机会有限。这项研究 此应用程序解决的差距是1)缺乏减轻不健康的体重增加和健康损失的策略 在夏季，2)和肥胖行为对儿童体重增加和健康的调节(或冥想) 夏天的损失。这项研究将通过一项严谨的研究设计来解决这些差距，该研究将跟踪儿童 两个暑假和一个学年。儿童将被随机分成两组：没有参加 有组织的夏令营，以及获得8周夏令营代金券的儿童。我们假设 与没有领取代金券的儿童相比，领取代金券的儿童体重增加和健康损失更少 代金券。为了检验这一假设，将实现以下具体目标：目标1(主要)：比较 参加结构化项目的低收入家庭儿童的体重指数、z得分和健康状况的变化 夏令营和那些没有参加有组织的夏令营的人。目标2(次要)：比较 参加结构化夏令营和不参加夏令营儿童的肥胖行为变化 参加一个有组织的夏令营。目标3(探索性)：探索自我调节和 这些变化对在校和在校儿童的原发和继发结局的调节作用 参加有组织的夏令营。这项研究将提供有价值的数据，为未来测试的干预措施提供参考 在一项大规模随机试验中。这个项目意义重大，因为它针对的是最脆弱的 儿童(即来自低收入家庭的儿童)在他们最脆弱的时期(即， 夏季)。该项目具有创新性，因为1)它将提供对儿童肥胖行为的洞察， 在夏季推动了不健康的体重变化和健身损失，2)它将提供初步数据 这与有组织的日子在夏季减轻不健康的体重增加和健康损失的能力有关。

For children (5-10 years) from low-income households, summer represents a “window of vulnerability” in which weight gain and fitness loss occur at an accelerated rate compared to the school year. We hypothesize the cause of accelerated weight gain and loss of fitness during summer is that children engage in greater amounts of obesogenic behaviors (i.e., diet, sleep, physical activity, sedentary behaviors) during summer that accelerate unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss. Evidence suggests that components within structured days (e.g., school days) have a positive influence on these behaviors. There is also evidence that the routines embedded within structured days are related to children’s self-regulation. During the summer, day camps (e.g., 7AM-5PM, 8-10wks) are a setting that can provide children a structured, healthy environment. However, the vast majority of children from low-income households have limited access to these programs during the summer due to cost. The research gaps addressed in this application are 1) the lack of strategies to mitigate unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss during the summer, 2) and obesogenic behaviors’ moderation (or meditation) of children’s weight gain and fitness loss during summer. This study will address these gaps with a rigorous research design that will follow children over two summers and one school year. Children will be randomized to two arms: children who do not attend a structured summer camp, and children who receive a voucher to attend a camp for 8 weeks. We hypothesize that children receiving the voucher will experience less weight gain and fitness loss than children not receiving the voucher. To test this hypothesis the following specific aims will be accomplished: Aim 1 (Primary): Compare changes in BMI z-scores and fitness among children from low-income households attending a structured summer day camp and those not attending a structured summer day camp. Aim 2 (Secondary): Compare changes in obesogenic behaviors among children attending a structured summer day camp and those not attending a structured summer day camp. Aim 3 (Exploratory): Explore changes in self-regulation and the moderating effect of these changes on primary and secondary outcomes among children attending and not attending a structured summer day camp.This study will provide valuable data to inform future interventions tested in a large-scale randomized trial. This project is significant because it targets the most vulnerable population of children (i.e., children from low-income households) during the time when they are the most vulnerable (i.e., summer). This project is innovative because 1) it will provide insight into children’s obesogenic behaviors that are driving unhealthy weight change and fitness loss during the summer and 2) it will provide preliminary data related to the ability of structured days to mitigate unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss during the summer.