School gardening and diet
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN11396528 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11396528 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 0000601794 |
- Submission date
- 01/12/2009
- Registration date
- 29/01/2010
- Last edited
- 19/03/2014
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Plain English summary of protocol
Not provided at time of registration
Contact information
Prof Janet Cade
Scientific
Scientific
Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Nutritional Epidemiology Group
Room 8.001 Worsley Building
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)113 343 6946 |
|---|---|
| j.e.cade@leeds.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Cluster randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | Does the Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening increase intake of fruit and vegetables in children? A cluster randomised controlled trial |
| Study acronym | DIG - Diet/Growing |
| Study objectives | 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(s) | Application pending to University of Leeds Research Ethics Committee as of 02/12/2009. |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Improving children's diet |
| Intervention | 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. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Daily portions of fruit and vegetable eaten, measured between January 2010 and April 2010 and again between September 2011 and December 2011. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 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. |
| Overall study start date | 01/10/2009 |
| Completion date | 30/09/2012 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 8 Years |
| Upper age limit | 9 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 58 schools (2900 pupils) |
| Key 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 |
| Key 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 |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/10/2009 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/09/2012 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Leeds
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK)
Government
Government
Room 132 Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NL
United Kingdom
| geh1@soton.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.phr.nihr.ac.uk |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/0187kwz08 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Public Health Research (PHR) Programme (ref: 0000601794)
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not provided at time of registration |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Not provided at time of registration |
| IPD sharing plan |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol article | protocol | 26/04/2012 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | results | 01/04/2013 | Yes | No |
