A Theater-Based Obesity Prevention Program for Children

描述（由申请人提供）：以学校为基础的干预措施具有很大的潜力，可以接触到来自不同种族，低收入背景的肥胖高风险儿童。然而，父母是影响子女的主要来源，经验研究结果表明，家庭一级参与以学校为基础的干预措施的程度通常很低。形成性工作的结果表明，与父母接触的一个好方法是邀请他们观看孩子的表演。拟议的R21研究的主要目的是研究一个创新的戏剧计划，准备的可行性。集行动！，that reaches到达out to children儿童and parents父母.干预信息将基于儿童自己的经历，因此与儿童及其父母具有个人和文化相关性。课后计划将持续12周，并将通过家庭食品和健身包，家庭挑战活动，健康饮食机会，由学生开发的促进健康饮食和体育活动的音乐视频以及戏剧表演来接触家长。该计划的密集部分将随后的助推器会议中，孩子们将进一步提高他们的技能，作为变革的代理人。待检验的主要研究假设是，儿童及其父母/主要照顾者对项目影响、项目参与和项目满意度的感知将很高。次要研究假设（将成为未来R 01提案的主要假设）是，与控制条件下的儿童相比，干预条件下的儿童将显著降低体重增加率，减少能量摄入，增加能量消耗。计划的影响将在12个月内进行评估，采用随机对照研究设计，其中2所干预小学和2所对照小学为低收入种族多样化人群提供服务。学习人口将包括100名学生，拟议学习期为两年。拟议的研究是创新的，因为它使用戏剧作为一种方式来接触年龄较大的小学生和他们的家庭。这项研究的结果将提供如何让家长参与学校干预的见解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): School-based interventions have great potential to reach children from ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds who are at high risk for obesity. However, parents provide a major source of influence for their children, and empirical findings suggest that family level participation in school-based interventions is typically low. Results from formative work show that a good way to reach out to parents is by inviting them to a performance by their children. The primary aim of the proposed R21 study is to examine the feasibility of an innovative theater program, Ready. Set. ACTION!, that reaches out to children and parents. Intervention messages will be based on the children's own experiences and thus personally and culturally relevant to children and their parents. The after-school program will run for a 12-week period and will reach parents through home food and fitness packs, home challenge activities, healthy eating opportunities, music videos developed by the students promoting healthy eating and physical activity, and play performances. The intensive portion of the program will be followed by booster sessions in which children will further enhance their skills as agents of change. The primary research hypothesis to be tested is that perceived program impact, program participation, and program satisfaction will be high among children and their parents/primary caregivers. Secondary research hypotheses, which will become primary hypotheses of a future R01 proposal, are that children in the intervention condition will significantly decrease their rate of weight gain, decrease their energy intake, and increase their energy expenditure, as compared to children in the control condition. Program impact will be assessed over a 12-month period using a randomized controlled study design with 2 intervention and 2 control elementary schools serving low-income ethnically diverse populations. The study population will include 100 students and the proposed study period is two years. The proposed research is innovative due to its use of theater as a way to reach out to older elementary school children and their families. Results from this study will provide insight into how to engage parents in school- based interventions.