TY - JOUR
T1 - Athletes for life
T2 - Rationale and methodology of a community- and family-based randomized controlled trial to promote cardiovascular fitness among primarily Latino families
AU - Szeszulski, Jacob
AU - Vega-López, Sonia
AU - Todd, Michael
AU - Ray, Frank
AU - Behar, Alma
AU - Campbell, Maria
AU - Chavez, Adrian
AU - Eckert, Ryan
AU - Lorenzo-Quintero, Anabell
AU - Hartmann Manrique, Leopoldo
AU - Crespo, Noe C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2020/4
Y1 - 2020/4
N2 - Background: Community-based programs have had modest success in combating obesity in Latino populations. Latino families' norms and beliefs about weight often hold larger body sizes to be normal, leading to lower engagement in weight-focused programs. Because improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness confer health benefits, regardless of weight, they offer an alternative to obesity-focused approaches. We describe the rationale and design of Athletes for Life (AFL), a community- and family-based intervention for Latino families. Methods/Design: This two-group randomized controlled trial will test the efficacy of AFL for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and diet in 6- to 11-year-old children (N = 160) and their parents, relative to a wait-list control group. Children will participate in 12 weeks of semiweekly sports skill programing and nutrition sessions. Concurrently, parents will participate in sports-focused activity and behavior change sessions that focus on nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and healthy eating. Cardiovascular fitness will be measured by the 1-mile run and 3-min step-test for both parents and children. Secondary outcomes include changes in objectively measured physical activity, dietary measures, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk (waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, insulin, and C-reactive protein). Discussion: AFL, implemented with a strong community partnership, will provide a test of the efficacy of culturally tailored intervention programming to promote positive health behaviors and improve health outcomes in Latino families. Intervention content, structure, and messaging will provide guidance for future methods to engage Latino families in health promotion programs that highlight their cultural norms, and beliefs. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier NCT03761589 (12/3/2018).
AB - Background: Community-based programs have had modest success in combating obesity in Latino populations. Latino families' norms and beliefs about weight often hold larger body sizes to be normal, leading to lower engagement in weight-focused programs. Because improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness confer health benefits, regardless of weight, they offer an alternative to obesity-focused approaches. We describe the rationale and design of Athletes for Life (AFL), a community- and family-based intervention for Latino families. Methods/Design: This two-group randomized controlled trial will test the efficacy of AFL for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and diet in 6- to 11-year-old children (N = 160) and their parents, relative to a wait-list control group. Children will participate in 12 weeks of semiweekly sports skill programing and nutrition sessions. Concurrently, parents will participate in sports-focused activity and behavior change sessions that focus on nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and healthy eating. Cardiovascular fitness will be measured by the 1-mile run and 3-min step-test for both parents and children. Secondary outcomes include changes in objectively measured physical activity, dietary measures, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk (waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, insulin, and C-reactive protein). Discussion: AFL, implemented with a strong community partnership, will provide a test of the efficacy of culturally tailored intervention programming to promote positive health behaviors and improve health outcomes in Latino families. Intervention content, structure, and messaging will provide guidance for future methods to engage Latino families in health promotion programs that highlight their cultural norms, and beliefs. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier NCT03761589 (12/3/2018).
KW - Body mass index
KW - Dietary sugars
KW - Exercise
KW - Fitness center
KW - Hispanic
KW - Pediatric obesity
KW - Physical activity
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cct.2020.105956
DO - 10.1016/j.cct.2020.105956
M3 - Article
C2 - 32061969
AN - SCOPUS:85079851935
SN - 1551-7144
VL - 91
JO - Contemporary Clinical Trials
JF - Contemporary Clinical Trials
M1 - 105956
ER -