CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05754359Updated Nov 15, 2023

Development and Feasibility of an Intervention to Increase Physical Activity Among Young Children

An interventional study of I'm an Active Hero (IAAH) Intervention Program in Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity, sponsored by Queen's University, Belfast. Completed at 1 site in Saudi Arabia. Open to participants aged 3 Years to 5 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-11-15.

Sponsored by Queen's University, Belfast · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
52
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
3 Years to 5 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of this study is to develop, implement, and evaluate a novel intervention to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour among pre-school children, with the ultimate goal of reducing obesity among this age group. This study will provide evidence-based recommendations for reducing the prevalence of obesity among preschool-aged children, and the suggestions will help improve the physical activity intervention programme in preschoolers.

Read the detailed description

The pre-school-based I'm an Active Hero (IAAH) intervention with family involvement was developed in accordance with the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. The development phase consists of locating and synthesising existing evidence (such as what is already known about existing interventions) and finding and developing theories (e.g., developing a theoretical understanding of the expected process of behaviour change). The IAAH-intervention components are theory- and evidence-based; they were developed based on a comprehensive identification and evaluation of current and past community, preschool, and family-based physical activity and lifestyle change interventions, as well as recommendations from a recent systematic review and review of reviews.

Additionally, the IAAH-intervention component was informed by conducting a systematic review to identify promising intervention components, including behaviour change techniques, that are associated with interventions that were able to increase PA in the preschool age group. In addition to conducting a qualitative study with teachers and patients/guardians, investigators will also consult them on the intervention's content and duration. Investigators would consider the suggestions and ideas from the preschool practitioners' and parent/guardian focus group meetings, which will establish the meaning of PA for the two distinct stakeholder groups, their influences on this, and considerations for a future intervention. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) framework was also used to set up the intervention component.

The design of the intervention will employ systematic review and qualitative phases to inform the quantitative, feasibility phase, followed by a further qualitative phase (stakeholders will be involved in the further refinement of the intervention to add richness and depth). Findings from the systematic review and qualitative work will inform the development of the IAAH intervention.

Intervention: This will be a feasibility study of a two-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial (RCT) and will consist of an intervention group and a control group with two data collection time points (i.e., baseline and post-intervention) to test the feasibility and efficacy of a 10-week "I'm an Active Hero (IAAH)" programme intervention with the aim of improving physical activity and decreasing sedentary behaviour of preschool children aged between 3 and 5 years in Taif City, Saudi Arabia.

Process evaluation: This will be a qualitative study including interviews and/or questionnaires with stakeholders (pre-school principals, teachers, classroom assistants, and parents/guardians) to determine the acceptability of the intervention from the participants' perspectives.

02

Conditions studied

  • Childhood Obesity
  • Physical Activity

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • Feasibility
  • Physical activity
  • Young Children
  • Intervention,
03

In context

Pediatric Obesity

1,117 studies on the registry are indexed under Pediatric Obesity; 189 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 52 is below the median of 103 across 862 interventional studies indexed under Pediatric Obesity.

Browse Pediatric Obesity studies →

Lead sponsor

Queen's University, Belfast is the lead sponsor of 113 studies on the registry; 14 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
3 Years to 5 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Children in the preschool years, ages 3 to 5, whose parents or guardians consent to their participation in the study
  • An ambulatory individual who does not require physical assistance
  • Children who able to follow verbal instructions

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children older than 5 years old
  • Children for whom parental/caregiver consent is not provided
  • Children with a concurrent medical condition that affects their ability to physically walk a certain distance or with health issues that might influence their participation in the intervention
05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    I'm an Active Hero (IAAH) Intervention program (intervention group)

    Preschool where the intervention implement will be run.

    Behavioral: I'm an Active Hero (IAAH) Intervention Program

  • No intervention
    Usual physical activities (control group)

    No intervention will be delivered in the control group, and children were requested to continue their usual physical activities.

Interventions

  • BehavioralI'm an Active Hero (IAAH) Intervention Program

    The "I'm an Active Hero (IAAH)" programme is a 10-week intervention aimed at increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary behaviour in preschool-aged (aged 3-5 years) children. It is anticipated to begin in February 2023 to May 2023. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and immediately following the intervention. The IAAH-intervention will be implemented by the preschool teachers, who will have two teacher training sessions with the main researcher (myself). The IAAH-intervention involves environmental modifications (a classroom) to create areas with sufficient space for active play; classroom sessions these will be implemented for 10 weeks (a minimum of one hour per week); and parent involvement, such as the provision of parental-child interaction homework activities and written information (tip cards, posters, and newsletters). for parents on how to encourage their children to be active.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Preschool Facilities that Agreed to Participate

    The proportion of preschools that agreed to take part in the study.(Outcome related to trial feasibility)

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  2. Preschool Retention

    The percentage of preschools which were retained throughout the study.(Outcome related to trial feasibility)

    Time frame: 10 weeks post baseline

  3. Participant Recruitment

    The expected number of participants to be recruited in this study. (Outcome related to trial feasibility).

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  4. Participants Retention

    The proportion of participants who will complete outcome assessments In either (intervention and control group).(Outcome related to trial feasibility).

    Time frame: 10 weeks post baseline

  5. Baseline Week ActiGraph Accelerometers-GT3X Return Rate at the End of the Baseline Week

    Number of children who will return their ActiGraph accelerometers-GT3X at the end of baseline week on the scheduled day (all children wore the accelerometers simultaneously)

    Time frame: 1 week

  6. Return of ActiGraph Accelerometers-GT3X on Time by Post-baseline Week Participants

    The number of participants who will return their ActiGraph accelerometers-GT3X to the researcher on the designated day, at end of post-baseline week.

    Time frame: 10 weeks after baseline

  7. Damaged or Lost ActiGraph Accelerometers-GT3X

    Number of ActiGraph accelerometers-GT3X that may loss or damage during this study

    Time frame: 11 weeks (1 week at baseline and 10 weeks after baseline

  8. Intervention Fidelity

    Intervention fidelity will be undertaken using the teacher's logbook of the number of sessions conducted per week and structure followed in relation to classroom guides) and observing the delivery of interventions, including two sessions of physical activity and sedentary behaviour will be observed at intervention pre-school at the midpoint through the intervention. At the end of the intervention, teachers and parents will be asked to take part in focus group and /or questionnaires.(Outcome related to trial feasibility).

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  9. Acceptability : Intervention Acceptance

    Intervention acceptance will be assessed via a post-intervention acceptance questionnaire and/or qualitative data from a post-intervention focus group.(outcome related to trial acceptability).

    Time frame: 1 week after the end of the intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Body Mass Index (BMI z-score) Measurement

    Height (to 0.1cm) and weight (to 0.1kg) will be measured twice without socks or shoes, in indoor clothing. BMI will then derive, and z -scores created relative to UK1990 data.

    Time frame: Baseline and 10 weeks post-intervention

  2. Change in Participants Physical Activity from Baseline to Post-intervention

    The children's preschool and home physical activity will be monitored objectively using the ActiGraph accelerometers-GT3X to be worn for four consecutive days at baseline and again for four consecutive days in week 11 of the trial. The unit of measurement will be the daily mean of time spent in light, and moderate-vigorous physical activity (LMVPA).

    Time frame: Baseline and 10 weeks post-intervention

  3. Change in Participants Sedentary Behaviour from Baseline to Post-intervention

    The children's preschool and home sedentary behaviour will be measured objectively using the ActiGraph accelerometers-GT3X to be worn at baseline for Four consecutive days and in week 11 of the study again for four consecutive days

    Time frame: Baseline and 10 weeks post-intervention

07

Study locations

1 site
  • General Administration of Education in Taif-KSA
    Taif, Maccha 26523, Saudi Arabia
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 15, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05754359
Lead sponsor
Queen's University, Belfast
Responsible party
NeilHeron (Principal Investigator, Neil Heron, Queen's University, Belfast) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 3, 2023
Start date
Feb 12, 2023
Primary completion
Apr 30, 2023
Completion
May 10, 2023
Last update
Nov 15, 2023

Study contacts

Neil Heron, PhD
principal investigator · Queen's University, Belfast

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion