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02 September 2010
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| [ Print-friendly version ] |
| School gardening and diet |
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN11396528 |
| ClinicalTrials.gov identifier | |
| Public title | School gardening and diet |
| Scientific title | Does the Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening increase intake of fruit and vegetables in children? A cluster randomised controlled trial |
| Acronym | DIG - Diet/Growing |
| Serial number at source | 0000601794 |
| Study hypothesis | Does a programme of practical, structured gardening education have an impact on the diet of children in Key Stage 2 (KS2 - aged 8 to 9 years)? |
| Ethics approval | Application pending to University of Leeds Research Ethics Committee as of 02/12/2009. |
| Study design | Cluster randomised controlled trial |
| Countries of recruitment | United Kingdom |
| Disease/condition/study domain | Improving children's diet |
| Participants - inclusion criteria |
Both trials:
1. Primary maintained schools in the London government region with classes in key stage 2 (years 3 - 6) 2. A minimum year group size of 15 pupils 3. Pupils aged 8 - 9 years, either sex Trial 1: 1. Meet all of the above criteria 2. Have signed up to take part in the RHS Campaign for School Gardening 3. Have undertaken the benchmarking process Trial 2: 1. Meet all of the above criteria (for both trials) 2. Have not signed up to take part in the RHS Campaign for School Gardening by the time of randomisation of schools in trial 1 |
| Participants - exclusion criteria |
Both trials:
1. Independent schools 2. Special schools 3. Schools without all 4 year groups (3 - 6) 4. Small schools with less than 15 pupils/year group 5. Schools that have previously participated in externally supported school growing projects |
| Anticipated start date | 01/10/2009 |
| Anticipated end date | 30/09/2012 |
| Status of trial | Ongoing |
| Patient information material | Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet |
| Target number of participants | 58 schools (2900 pupils) |
| Interventions |
The intervention package is the RHS Campaign for School Gardening. There are two main levels at which schools can be involved - more intensive and less intensive:
More intensive intervention: Involves support from the RHS Regional Schools Advisor (RA). The role of the RA is to help schools develop a successful garden, work directly with teachers and pupils to give them support and practical advice. They are also charged with trying to help schools overcome particular barriers to developing gardening within schools. RA have the expertise and experience to tie in gardening and growing activities with the National Curriculum and to run staff training sessions for teachers. Less intensive intervention: Schools do not have direct support from the Regional Advisor but do have access to training from teachers in the partner (more intensive) schools in twilight teacher training sessions. They will be able to have e-mail contact with the RA and access to the RHS resources on the Internet as well as potential for a one-off training event at the school. This less intensive education package will be available for schools in trial 1 and trial 2. The comparison schools in trial 2 will not be provided with additional support regarding growing fruit and vegetables. However, it is recognised that most schools will be engaging in some activity around this topic. Baseline evaluation of the schools will assess the level of active engagement with growing by these schools. The nature of the intervention allows schools to tailor their engagement with the intervention according to their needs. We will monitor which activities are undertaken by the schools during the growing year and assess, through process measures, how compliant schools have been with the different aspects of the intervention undertaken. Schools in the study will be encouraged to keep a diary of the activities they undertake as part of the intervention and complete a questionnaire detailing these activities. The process measures will allow us to identify aspects of the Campaign which have influenced the effectiveness of the activities. Our previous work with school interventions has shown a high level of follow up at 75%, meaning that likely loss to follow up will be in the region of 3 - 4 schools and 150 - 200 children. This has been taken into account in our recruitment strategy. |
| Primary outcome measure(s) | Daily portions of fruit and vegetable eaten, measured between January 2010 and April 2010 and again between September 2011 and December 2011. |
| Secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Intake of key nutrients (measured between January 2010 and April 2010 and again between September 2011 and December 2011):
1.1. Total energy intake (MJ/day) 1.2. Fat intake (g/day) 1.3. Salt intake (g/day) 1.4. Intake of sugars (g/day) 1.5. Carotene intake (mg/day) 1.6. Vitamin C intake (mg/day) 2. Behavioural: Children's attitude to fruit and vegetable consumption - using a validated psychological questionnaire. Measured between January 2010 and April 2010 and again between September 2011 and December 2011. 3. School level: Involvement of schools in promoting consumption of fruit and vegetables (number of lessons devoted to school gardening and growing or learning about fruit and vegetables, school food policy, resources, involvement in other national/local food related initiatives) 4. Involvement by schools of parents in promoting consumption of fruit and vegetables among pupils 5. Process measures concerning the practicality of the intervention, timing, delivery, used and not used elements of the intervention, measured between January 2010 and July 2011. |
| Sources of funding | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Public Health Research (PHR) Programme (ref: 0000601794) |
| Trial website | http://www.phr.nihr.ac.uk/ |
| Publications | |
| Contact name | Prof Janet Cade |
| Address |
Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Nutritional Epidemiology Group Room 8.001 Worsley Building University of Leeds |
| City/town | Leeds |
| Zip/Postcode | LS2 9JT |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Tel | +44 (0)113 343 6946 |
| Fax | +44 (0)113 3434877 |
| j.e.cade@leeds.ac.uk | |
| Sponsor | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) |
| Address |
Room 132 Richmond House
79 Whitehall |
| City/town | London |
| Zip/Postcode | SW1A 2NL |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| geh1@soton.ac.uk | |
| Sponsor website: | http://www.phr.nihr.ac.uk |
| Date applied | 01/12/2009 |
| Last edited | 29/01/2010 |
| Date ISRCTN assigned | 29/01/2010 |
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