Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Oct 28:10:652.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-652.

The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT girls) randomized controlled trial for adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools: rationale, study protocol, and baseline results

David R Lubans  1 , Philip J Morgan, Deborah Dewar, Clare E Collins, Ronald C Plotnikoff, Anthony D Okely, Marijka J Batterham, Tara Finn, Robin Callister
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT girls) randomized controlled trial for adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools: rationale, study protocol, and baseline results

David R Lubans et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Child and adolescent obesity predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of lifestyle diseases. Although there is some evidence to suggest that rates of pediatric obesity have leveled off in recent years, this has not been the case among youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report the rationale, study design and baseline findings of a school-based obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools.

Methods/design: The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT Girls) intervention will be evaluated using a group randomized controlled trial. NEAT Girls is a 12-month multi-component school-based intervention developed in reference to Social Cognitive Theory and includes enhanced school sport sessions, interactive seminars, nutrition workshops, lunch-time physical activity (PA) sessions, PA and nutrition handbooks, parent newsletters, pedometers for self-monitoring and text messaging for social support. The following variables were assessed at baseline and will be completed again at 12- and 24-months: adiposity, objectively measured PA, muscular fitness, time spent in sedentary behaviors, dietary intake, PA and nutrition social-cognitive mediators, physical self-perception and global self-esteem. Statistical analyses will follow intention-to-treat principles and hypothesized mediators of PA and nutrition behavior change will be explored.

Discussion: NEAT Girls is an innovative intervention targeting low-active girls using evidence-based behavior change strategies and nutrition and PA messages and has the potential to prevent unhealthy weight gain and reduce the decline in physical activity and poor dietary habits associated with low socio-economic status. Few studies have reported the long-term effects of school-based obesity prevention programs and the current study has the potential to make an important contribution to the field.

Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry No: ACTRN12610000330044.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Reilly J, Methven E, McDowell Z, Hacking B, Alexander D, Stewart L, Kelnar C. Health consequences of obesity. Archives of Disabled Childhood. 2003;88(9):748–752. doi: 10.1136/adc.88.9.748. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hossain P, Kawar B, Nahas M. Obesity and diabetes in the developing world: a growing challenge. New England Medical Journal. 2007;356:213–215. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp068177. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Olds TS, Tomkinson GR, Ferrar KE, Maher CA. Trends in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Australia between 1985 and 2008. International Journal of Obesity. 2010;34:57–66. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2009.211. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stamatakis E, Wardle J, Cole TJ. Childhood obesity and overweight prevalence trends in England: evidence for growing socioeconomic disparities. International Journal of Obesity. 2010;34:41–47. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2009.217. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miech RA, Kumanyika SK, Stettler N, Link BG, Phelan JC, Chang VW. Trends in the association of poverty with overweight among US adolescents. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2006;295:2385–2393. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.20.2385. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types