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Cluster randomised controlled trial of an online intervention to improve healthy food purchases from primary school canteens: a study protocol of the 'click & crunch' trial.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:School canteens are the most frequently accessed take-away food outlet by Australian children. The rapid development of online lunch ordering systems for school canteens presents new opportunities to deliver novel public health nutrition interventions to school-aged children. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a behavioural intervention in reducing the energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium content of online canteen lunch orders for primary school children. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:The study will employ a cluster randomised controlled trial design. Twenty-six primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, that have an existing online canteen ordering system will be randomised to receive either a multi-strategy behavioural intervention or a control (the standard online canteen ordering system). The intervention will be integrated into the existing online canteen system and will seek to encourage the purchase of healthier food and drinks for school lunch orders (ie, items lower in energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium). The behavioural intervention will use evidence-based choice architecture strategies to redesign the online menu and ordering system including: menu labelling, placement, prompting and provision of feedback and incentives. The primary trial outcomes will be the mean energy (kilojoules), saturated fat (grams), sugar (grams) and sodium (milligrams) content of lunch orders placed via the online system, and will be assessed 12 months after baseline data collection. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:The study was approved by the ethics committees of the University of Newcastle (H-2017-0402) and the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (SERAP 2018065), and the Catholic Education Office Dioceses of Sydney, Parramatta, Lismore, Maitland-Newcastle, Bathurst, Canberra-Goulburn, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga and Wilcannia-Forbes. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, reports, presentations at relevant national and international conferences and via briefings to key stakeholders. Results will be used to inform future implementation of public health nutrition interventions through school canteens, and may be transferable to other food settings or online systems for ordering food. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:ACTRN12618000855224.

SUBMITTER: Wyse R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731886 | biostudies-other | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Cluster randomised controlled trial of an online intervention to improve healthy food purchases from primary school canteens: a study protocol of the 'click & crunch' trial.

Wyse Rebecca R Delaney Tessa T Gibbins Pennie P Ball Kylie K Campbell Karen K Yoong Sze Lin SL Seward Kirsty K Zoetemeyer Rachel R Rissel Chris C Wiggers John J Attia John J Oldmeadow Chris C Sutherland Rachel R Nathan Nicole N Reilly Kathryn K Reeves Penny P Wolfenden Luke L

BMJ open 20190905 9

<h4>Introduction</h4>School canteens are the most frequently accessed take-away food outlet by Australian children. The rapid development of online lunch ordering systems for school canteens presents new opportunities to deliver novel public health nutrition interventions to school-aged children. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a behavioural intervention in reducing the energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium content of online canteen lunch orders for primar ...[more]

PMID: 31492788

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Project description:IntroductionSchool canteens represent an opportune setting in which to deliver public health nutrition strategies given their wide reach, and frequent use by children. Online school canteen ordering systems, where students order and pay for their lunch online, provide an avenue to improve healthy canteen purchases through the application of consumer behaviour strategies that impact on purchasing decisions. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of a consumer behaviour intervention implemented in an online school canteen ordering system in reducing the kilojoule, saturated fat, sugar and sodium content of primary student lunch orders.Methods and analysisThe study will employ a cluster randomised controlled trial design. Approximately 1040 students (aged 5-12 years) from 10 primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, currently using an online canteen ordering system will be invited to participate. Schools will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the intervention (enhanced system) or control (standard online ordering only). The intervention will include evidence-based strategies shown to influence healthy food purchasing (strategies targeting availability, menu labelling, placement and prompting). The primary outcomes of the trial will be the mean content per student online lunch order of (1) energy (kJ), (2) saturated fat (g), (3) sugar (g) and (4) sodium (mg). The impact of the intervention will be determined by between-group assessment of the nutritional content of lunch purchases over a 2-month period postintervention initiation.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the Hunter New England Human Research Ethics Committee, University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee and New South Wales Department of Education and School Communities. Study findings will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed publications and relevant presentations in international conferences and to stakeholders.Trial registration numberACTRN12616000499482.

Project description:BackgroundSchool canteens are a recommended setting to influence adolescent nutrition due to their scope to improve student food choices. Online lunch ordering systems ("online canteens") are increasingly used and represent attractive infrastructure to implement choice architecture interventions that nudge users toward healthier food choices. A recent cluster randomized controlled trial demonstrated the short-term effectiveness (2-month follow-up) of a choice architecture intervention to increase the healthiness of foods purchased by high school students from online canteens. However, there is little evidence regarding the long-term effectiveness of choice architecture interventions targeting adolescent food purchases, particularly those delivered online.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the long-term effectiveness of a multi-strategy choice architecture intervention embedded within online canteen infrastructure in high schools at a 15-month follow-up.MethodsA cluster randomized controlled trial was undertaken with 1331 students (from 9 high schools) in New South Wales, Australia. Schools were randomized to receive the automated choice architecture intervention (including menu labeling, positioning, feedback, and prompting strategies) or the control (standard online ordering). The foods purchased were classified according to the New South Wales Healthy Canteen strategy as either "everyday," "occasional," or "should not be sold." Primary outcomes were the average proportion of "everyday," "occasional," and "should not be sold" items purchased per student. Secondary outcomes were the mean energy, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium content of purchases. Outcomes were assessed using routine data collected by the online canteen.ResultsFrom baseline to 15-month follow-up, on average, students in the intervention group ordered significantly more "everyday" items (+11.5%, 95% CI 7.3% to 15.6%; P<.001), and significantly fewer "occasional" (-5.4%, 95% CI -9.4% to -1.5%; P=.007) and "should not be sold" items (-6%, 95% CI -9.1% to -2.9%; P<.001), relative to controls. There were no between-group differences over time in the mean energy, saturated fat, sugar, or sodium content of lunch orders.ConclusionsGiven their longer-term effectiveness, choice architecture interventions delivered via online canteens may represent a promising option for policy makers to support healthy eating among high school students.Trial registrationAustralian Clinical Trials ACTRN12620001338954, https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=380546 ; Open Science Framework osf.io/h8zfr, https://osf.io/h8zfr/.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:The first years of school are critical in establishing a foundation for positive long-term academic, social and well-being outcomes. Mindfulness-based interventions may help students transition well into school, but few robust studies have been conducted in this age group. We aim to determine whether compared with controls, children who receive a mindfulness intervention within the first years of primary school have better: (1) immediate attention/short-term memory at 18 months post-randomisation (primary outcome); (2) inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility at 18 months post-randomisation; (3) socio-emotional well-being, emotion-regulation and mental health-related behaviours at 6 and 18 months post-randomisation; (4) sustained changes in teacher practice and classroom interactions at 18 months post-randomisation. Furthermore, we aim to determine whether the implementation predicts the efficacy of the intervention, and the cost effectiveness relative to outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:This cluster randomised controlled trial will be conducted in 22 primary schools in disadvantaged areas of Melbourne, Australia. 826 students in the first year of primary school will be recruited to detect between groups differences of Cohen's d=0.25 at the 18-month follow-up. Parent, teacher and child-assessment measures of child attention, emotion-regulation, executive functioning, socio-emotional well-being, mental health-related behaviour and learning, parent mental well-being, teacher well-being will be collected 6 and 18 months post-randomisation. Implementation factors will be measured throughout the study. Intention-to-treat analyses, accounting for clustering within schools and classes, will adopt a two-level random effects linear regression model to examine outcomes for the intervention versus control students. Unadjusted and analyses adjusted for baseline scores, baseline age, gender and family socioeconomic status will be conducted. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:Ethics approval has been received by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbourne. Findings will be reported in peer-review publications, national and international conference presentations and research snapshots directly provided to participating schools and families. PRE-RESULTS TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000326190).

Project description:BackgroundEvidence suggests that dietary intake of UK children is suboptimal. As schools provide an ideal natural environment for public health interventions, effective and sustainable methods of improving food knowledge and dietary habits in this population must be identified. Project Daire aimed to improve children's health-related quality of life, wellbeing, food knowledge and dietary habits via two multi-component interventions.MethodsDaire was a randomised-controlled, factorial design trial evaluating two interventions across four arms. Primary schools in Northern Ireland were randomised to one of four 6-month intervention arms: i) 'Nourish', ii) 'Engage', iii) 'Nourish' and 'Engage' and iv) Control (Delayed). 'Nourish' was an intervention aiming to alter the whole-school food environment, provide food-related experiences and exposure to locally produced foods. 'Engage' was an age-appropriate, cross-curricular educational intervention on food, agriculture, nutrition science and related careers. Primary outcomes were emotional and behavioural wellbeing and health-related quality of life. A number of secondary outcomes, including dietary intake, cooking competence and food-related knowledge, were also measured.ResultsFifteen schools from areas of varying socio-economic status participated in the randomised trial. A total of 903 (n = 445 aged 6-7 years and n = 458 aged 10-11 years) primary school pupils took part. Total Difficulties Score improved in all pupils (6-7 and 10-11 year old pupils) who received the 'Nourish' intervention compared with those that did not (adjusted difference in mean = - 0.82; 95% CI -1.46, - 0.17; P < 0.02). No statistically significant difference in Health-Related Quality of Life was observed. The 'Nourish' intervention also produced some changes in school-based dietary behaviour, which were most apparent in the 10-11 year old pupils. The 'Nourish' intervention also produced improvements in understanding of food labels (adjusted difference in mean = 0.15; 95% CI 0.05, 0.25; P < 0.01) and knowledge of vegetables in season (adjusted difference in mean = 0.29; 95% CI 0.01,0.56; P = 0.04) whilst an increased willingness to try new foods and improved perceived cooking competence was also observed.ConclusionsImprovements in childhood emotional and behavioural wellbeing, dietary intake, knowledge about food, cooking skills and willingness to try new foods were associated with the 'Nourish' whole-school food environment intervention. Exploration of the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of such whole-school food interventions should be conducted.Trial registrationNational Institute of Health (NIH) U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials.gov (ID: NCT04277312 ).

Project description:Multi-level, longer-term obesity prevention interventions that focus on inequalities are scarce. Fun 'n healthy in Moreland! aimed to improve child adiposity, school policies and environments, parent engagement, health behaviours and child wellbeing.All children from primary schools in an inner urban, culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged area in Victoria, Australia were eligible for participation. The intervention, fun 'n healthy in Moreland!, used a Health Promoting Schools Framework and provided schools with evidence, school research data and part time support from a Community Development Worker to develop health promoting strategies. Comparison schools continued as normal. Participants were not blinded to intervention status. The primary outcome was change in adiposity. Repeated cross-sectional design with nested longitudinal subsample.Students from twenty-four primary schools (clusters) were randomised (aged 5-12 years at baseline). 1426 students from 12 intervention schools and 1539 students from 10 comparison schools consented to follow up measurements. Despite increased prevalence of healthy weight across all schools, after 3.5 years of intervention there was no statistically significant difference between trial arms in BMI z score post-intervention (Mean (sd): Intervention 0.68(1.16); Comparison: 0.72(1.12); Adjusted mean difference (AMD): -0.05, CI: -0.19 to 0.08, p = 0.44). Children from intervention schools consumed more daily fruit serves (AMD: 0.19, CI:0.00 to 0.37, p = 0.10), were more likely to have water (AOR: 1.71, CI:1.05 to 2.78, p = 0.03) and vegetables (AOR: 1.23, CI: 0.99 to 1.55, p = 0.07), and less likely to have fruit juice/cordial (AOR: 0.58, CI:0.36 to 0.93, p = 0.02) in school lunch compared to children in comparison schools. More intervention schools (8/11) had healthy eating and physical activity policies compared with comparison schools (2/9). Principals and schools highly valued the approach as a catalyst for broader positive school changes. The cost of the intervention per child was $65 per year.The fun n healthy in Moreland! intervention did not result in statistically significant differences in BMI z score across trial arms but did result in greater policy implementation, increased parent engagement and resources, improved child self-rated health, increased fruit, vegetable and water consumption, and reduction in sweet drinks. A longer-term follow up evaluation may be needed to demonstrate whether these changes are sustainable and impact on childhood overweight and obesity.ACTRN12607000385448 (Date submitted 31/05/2007; Date registered 23/07/2007; Date last updated 15/12/2009).

Project description:BackgroundThere is a need for more sustainable interventions and for assessing the effectiveness of school-based universal anti-bullying programmes in vulnerable populations. We assessed the efficacy of a multicomponent, web-enabled, school-based intervention that aims to improve school climate and reduce bullying (LINKlusive) relative to conventional practices (control condition).MethodsWe conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial in primary and secondary schools in Madrid, Spain. The primary outcome measure was peer-reported bullying victimisation after the 12-week intervention (study endpoint). We analysed data using longitudinal mixed-effects models. The trial was registered with the ISRCTN registry (15719015).FindingsWe included 20 schools (10 in each group); 6542 students participated at baseline; 6403 were assessed at study endpoint. After the intervention, there was a statistically significant reduction in bullying victimisation in both the intervention (OR 0.61, 95% CI [0.41, 0.90]) and control groups (OR 0.69, 95% CI [0.51, 0.92]), with no evidence of differences in the whole sample (OR 0.89, 95% CI [0.58, 1.36]; aOR 0.89, 95% CI [0.58, 1.37]). Subgroup analyses showed a statistically significant effect of LINKlusive on bullying victimisation in primary education (aOR 0.68, 95% CI [0.47, 0.98]). In students with peer-reported bullying victimisation at baseline, LINKlusive showed a statistically significant effect on depression (-1.43, 95% CI [-2.46, -0.40], adjusted standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.41) and quality of life (2.18, 95% CI [0.80, 3.56], adjusted SMD 0.45).InterpretationLINKlusive could be effective in reducing bullying victimisation in primary school students. Sustainable whole-school interventions to promote mental health and reduce risk factors are warranted to improve outcomes in young people, especially in the early years of education.FundingInstituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Project description:BackgroundThe impacts of multicomponent school water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) interventions on children's health are unclear. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to test the effects of a school WaSH intervention on children's malnutrition, dehydration, health literacy (HL), and handwashing (HW) in Metro Manila, Philippines.MethodsThe trial lasted from June 2017 to March 2018 and included children, in grades 5, 6, 7, and 10, from 15 schools. At baseline 756 children were enrolled. Seventy-eight children in two clusters were purposively assigned to the control group (CG); 13 clusters were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: low-intensity health education (LIHE; two schools, n = 116 children), medium-intensity health education (MIHE; seven schools, n = 356 children), and high-intensity health education (HIHE; four schools, n = 206 children). The intervention consisted of health education (HE), WaSH policy workshops, provision of hygiene supplies, and WaSH facilities repairs. Outcomes were: height-for-age and body mass index-for-age Z scores (HAZ, BAZ); stunting, undernutrition, overnutrition, dehydration prevalence; HL and HW scores. We used anthropometry to measure children's physical growth, urine test strips to measure dehydration, questionnaires to measure HL, and observation to measure HW practice. The same measurements were used during baseline and endline. We used multilevel mixed-effects logistic and linear regression models to assess intervention effects.ResultsNone of the interventions reduced undernutrition prevalence or improved HAZ, BAZ, or overall HL scores. Low-intensity HE reduced stunting (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.95; 95% CI 0.93 to 0.96), while low- (aOR 0.57; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.96) and high-intensity HE (aOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.93) reduced overnutrition. Medium- (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] 0.02; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.04) and high-intensity HE (aIRR 0.01; 95% CI 0.00 to 0.16) reduced severe dehydration. Medium- (aOR 3.18; 95% CI 1.34 to 7.55) and high-intensity HE (aOR 3.89; 95% CI 3.74 to 4.05) increased observed HW after using the toilet/urinal.ConclusionIncreasing the intensity of HE reduced prevalence of stunting, overnutrition, and severe dehydration and increased prevalence of observed HW. Data may be relevant for school WaSH interventions in the Global South. Interventions may have been more effective if adherence was higher, exposure to interventions longer, parents/caregivers were more involved, or household WaSH was addressed.Trial registration numberDRKS00021623.

Project description:ObjectivesThis study sought to assess the effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) of a multifaceted intervention aimed at improving antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in primary care.DesignLarge-sized, two-arm, open-label, pragmatic, cluster-randomised controlled trial.SettingAll primary care physicians working for the Spanish National Health Service (NHS) in Galicia (region in north-west Spain).ParticipantsThe seven spatial clusters were distributed by unequal randomisation (3:4) of the intervention and control groups. A total of 1217 physicians (1.30 million patients) were recruited from intervention clusters and 1393 physicians (1.46 million patients) from control clusters.InterventionsOne-hour educational outreach visits tailored to training needs identified in a previous study; an online course integrated in practice accreditation; and a clinical decision support system.Main outcome measuresChanges in the ESAC (European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption) quality indicators for outpatient antibiotic use. We used generalised linear mixed and conducted a ROI analysis to ascertain the overall cost savings.ResultsMedian follow-up was 19 months. The adjusted effect on overall antibiotic prescribing attributable to the intervention was - 4.2% (95% CI: - 5.3% to - 3.2%), with this being more pronounced for penicillins - 6.5 (95% CI: - 7.9% to - 5.2%) and for the ratio of consumption of broad- to narrow-spectrum penicillins, cephalosporins, and macrolides - 9.0% (95% CI: - 14.0 to - 4.1%). The cost of the intervention was €87 per physician. Direct savings per physician attributable to the reduction in antibiotic prescriptions was €311 for the NHS and €573 for patient contributions, with an ROI of €2.57 and €5.59 respectively.ConclusionsInterventions designed on the basis of gaps in physicians' knowledge of and attitudes to misprescription can improve antibiotic prescribing and yield important direct cost savings.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN24158380 . Registered 5 February 2009.

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Cluster randomised controlled trial of an online intervention to improve healthy food purchases from primary school canteens: a study protocol of the 'click & crunch' trial.

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Cluster randomised controlled trial of an online intervention to improve healthy food purchases from primary school canteens: a study protocol of the 'click & crunch' trial.

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