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CompletedNCT02890056Updated Jun 12, 2019

A Community-based Study to Target Childhood Obesity

An interventional study of H2GO! in Obesity, sponsored by Boston University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 9 Years to 12 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-06-12.

Sponsored by Boston University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
207
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
9 Years to 12 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a community-based behavioral intervention (H2GO!) on decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and promoting water consumption among school-aged youth and parents/caregivers. We hypothesize that participants in the intervention site will demonstrate reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake intake and increased water intake compared to participants in the comparison site at 2 and 6 months follow-up.

Read the detailed description

This study aims to assess the efficacy of a community-based behavioral intervention (H2GO!) targeting sugar-sweetened beverage and water consumption among 108 parent-child pairs (N=216) through a site-randomized trial.

The study setting includes 2 Boys and Girls Club sites in Massachusetts, USA that were pair-matched for size and racial/ethnic composition. The Boys and Girls of America is a national organization that provides affordable after-school programs for a large population (\~4 million annually) of diverse youth (33% White, 30% Black, 23% Latino) from predominantly low socioeconomic backgrounds through over 4,000 club facilities across the U.S.

The H2GO! intervention was designed to address two behavioral targets: reducing the number of sugar-sweetened beverage servings consumed per day (recommended guideline of zero servings per day) and promoting water consumption (approximately 5-8 cups per day for youth participants and 8 cups per day for parental participants). Informed by the Social Cognitive Theory and the Social Ecological Model, the H2GO! Intervention was designed to target child and parent participants' knowledge, attitudes (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, perceived social norms) and behavioral capabilities related to sugar-sweetened beverage and water consumption.

The 6-week behavioral intervention consists of group-based weekly sessions (1-hour sessions twice a week) delivered by trained Boys and Girls Club program staff at the Boys and Girls Club site. Each intervention session consists of a 1-hour health module followed by a 1-hour narrative module. Topics of the health modules include: understanding the benefits of water, sampling different types of fruit-flavored water, identifying sugar-sweetened beverages, exploring the local grocery store, identifying barriers and facilitators to drinking water, and managing triggers for sugar-sweetened beverages. The narrative modules include intervention objectives and activities that reinforce knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors targeted in the previous health component.

Child participants will receive a reusable water bottle and a pictorial intervention booklet. Developed by the study principal investigator (PI) and research assistants, the brightly-colored booklet was culturally and linguistically-tailored to the study population and included intervention activity worksheets, parent-child take-home activities, fun facts and quizzes, and beverage consumption tracking sheets. Activity worksheets will be completed by participants during intervention sessions; and parent-child take-home activities will be completed following each session.

Study assessments will take place at baseline, 2 months, and 6 months.

02

Conditions studied

  • Obesity

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Keywords

  • sugar-sweetened beverage consumption
  • water consumption
  • dietary behaviors
  • youth
03

In context

Obesity

6,296 studies on the registry are indexed under Obesity; 1,692 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 207 is above the median of 78 across 4,878 interventional studies indexed under Obesity.

Browse Obesity studies →

Lead sponsor

Boston University is the lead sponsor of 266 studies on the registry; 37 are open to participants now.

Of its 30 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 24 (80%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
9 Years to 12 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Eligibility criteria

This study recruits parent/caregiver-child pairs. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are further specified based on parent/caregiver participants and child participants.

Child Inclusion Criteria:

  • ages 9-12 years
  • current member at the Boys and Girls Club study site
  • able to understand and communicate in English
  • able and willing to provide consent
  • parental/caregiver permission to participate

Child Exclusion Criteria:

  • medical condition that limits ability to change beverage consumption behaviors

Parent/Caregiver Inclusion Criteria:

  • ages 18+ years
  • parent/caregiver to a Boys and Girls Club child member
  • able to understand and communicate in English
  • able and willing to provide consent

Parent/Caregiver Exclusion Criteria:

  • medical condition that limits ability to change beverage consumption behaviors
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
207 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    H2GO! intervention

    H2GO! is a community-based behavioral intervention to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and promote water intake among school-age youth and parents.The intervention consists of 6 weekly group-based sessions (1-hour sessions twice a week) that target beverage knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors through interactive activities, youth-produced narratives, and parent-child activities. The intervention is delivered through a youth-based community setting (Boys and Girls Clubs of America) by trained Boys and Girls Club staff.

    Behavioral: H2GO!

  • No intervention
    Comparison

    Usual care will take place at the comparison site (standard programming at the Boys and Girls Club comparison site).

Interventions

  • BehavioralH2GO!
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption

    Measured through self-report survey

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 6 months

  2. Water consumption

    Measured through self-report survey

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Body mass index percentile (age- and sex-specific)

    Trained staff will obtain child participants' height (inches) and weight (pounds) using standardized equipment. Height and weight will then be used to calculate body mass index (kg/m\^2). Body mass index percentiles will be calculated using age- and sex-specific body mass index-based growth trajectories.

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 6 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Boston University School of Pblic Health
    Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Wang ML, Otis M, Rosal MC, Griecci CF, Lemon SC. Reducing sugary drink intake through youth empowerment: results from a pilot-site randomized study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2019 Jul 30;16(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s12966-019-0819-0. PubMed 31362753 ↗
  • Wang ML, Lemon SC, Clausen K, Whyte J, Rosal MC. Design and methods for a community-based intervention to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among youth: H2GO! study. BMC Public Health. 2016 Nov 9;16(1):1150. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3803-5. PubMed 27829397 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 12, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02890056
Lead sponsor
Boston University
Collaborators
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Responsible party
Monica Li-Sha Wang (Assistant Professor, Boston University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 7, 2016
Start date
Sep 2016
Primary completion
May 2018
Completion
May 2018
Last update
Jun 12, 2019

Study contacts

Monica Wang, ScD
principal investigator · Boston University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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