Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Prof Jane Wardle
ORCID ID
Contact details
Health Behaviour Research Centre
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
University College London (UCL)
1 - 19 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom
j.wardle@ucl.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
Evaluation of a national social marketing campaign to prevent childhood obesity: a randomised controlled trial
Acronym
Study hypothesis
As compared to a no intervention control group, does taking part in a social marketing campaign have positive effects on:
1. Parents' attitudes about children's eating, activity and weight
2. Parents' intentions to change child or family eating and activity behaviours
3. Parents' knowledge about food and physical activity recommendations for children
4. Actual change in child and family eating and activity behaviours (for example, number and type of snacks, sugary drink intake, fruit and vegetable intake, hours in sedentary behaviours)
We will also look at the longer term impact of the campaign, the types of strategies that parents use to encourage the take up of healthy behaviours in their children and how demographic variables (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES] and ethnicity) modify response.
Ethics approval
University College London (UCL) Research Ethics Committee approved on the 19th May 2009 (ref: 0793/002)
Study design
Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Prevention
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Obesity
Intervention
The study will evaluate a social marketing campaign including a questionnaire with presonalised feedback and written materials with accompanying resources. The social marketing campaign has two stages and we will be evaluating the independent impact of each.
Stage 1:
Parents will be recruited (target 4,200) from 40 primary schools in England. All parents of children in years 1 - 6 will be invited to participate. Parents will initially complete a brief baseline questionnaire including demographic information, weight concern and awareness of public health compaigns.
Stage 2:
Parents will be randomised at the school level to either an intervention group (who will receive the first stage of the campaign materials) or a 'usual care' control condition (who will not receive the campaign materials). All parents will receive a follow up questionnaire after 3 months to assess differences between the two intervention conditions for the variables outlined in the study hypotheses.
Stage 3:
Parents who received the first stage of the campaign materials will be further randomised to either an intervention group (who will receive the second stage of the campaign materials) or a control condition (who will not receive the second stage of the campaign materials). All participating parents will receive a further follow up questionnaire to evaluate the impact of the second stage of the campaign.
Stage 4:
Home-based interviews will be carried out with a subset of families in the control and intervention groups to obtain more detailed information on diet and activity practices and implementation of campaign recommendations.
The intervention periods for both phase 1 and 2 of the campaign is 3 months each, making the total intervention period 6 months.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Applicable
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Intentions to change and actual change in child's eating and activity behaviours, measured at the end of each of the two intervention periods.
Secondary outcome measures
Measured at the end of each of the two intervention periods:
1. Parents' attitudes about childrens eating, activity and weight
2. Parents' knowledge about food and physical activity recommendations for children
3. Strategies employed by parents to facilitate change in children's and family's eating and activity behaviours
Overall trial start date
01/06/2009
Overall trial end date
01/01/2011
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
All parents of children in years 1 - 6 in participating primary schools
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
4,200
Participant exclusion criteria
Does not meet inclusion criteria
Recruitment start date
01/06/2009
Recruitment end date
01/01/2011
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Health Behaviour Research Centre
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Department of Health (UK)
Sponsor details
Wellington House
133 - 155 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8UG
United Kingdom
Bryony.Butland@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
Department of Health (UK)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
1. 2012 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22672587
Publication citations
-
Results
Croker H, Lucas R, Wardle J, Cluster-randomised trial to evaluate the 'Change for Life' mass media/ social marketing campaign in the UK., BMC Public Health, 2012, 12, 404, doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-404.