NCT03432715: WCC

Wellness Champions for Change

Completed NA Last updated 28 February 2022

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Student Wellness Champions in Obesity, Childhood in 2,773 participants. Completed in 31 December 2021.

Timeline

26 May 2017

Primary endpoint
31 December 2021

31 December 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of Maryland, Baltimore
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	factorial
Masking	single
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	2,773
Start date	26 May 2017
Primary completion	31 December 2021
Estimated completion	31 December 2021
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Student Wellness Champions
• Teacher Wellness Champions

Conditions studied

• Obesity, Childhood — all drugs for Obesity, Childhood →

Sponsor

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Who can join

Adults 7 to 16, any sex, with Obesity, Childhood. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The Wellness Champions for Change (WCC) study aims to reduce pediatric obesity among students who attend schools in Maryland by training teacher and student-led wellness teams to increase opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating at school.

The study uses a cluster randomized design to allocate 6 schools (3 elementary, 3 middle) in 5 school systems to one of 3 arms: "A" (teacher and student training), "B" (teacher training only), and "C") (delayed teacher training/control). Approximately 36 3rd/6th graders and their caregivers ("evaluation cohort"), 15 4th/7th graders ("student leaders"), and 20 teachers from each school will be recruited in the spring before the intervention. All schools will identify a teacher "Wellness Champion" who will coordinate intervention activities. In "A" and "B" schools, wellness champions will attend a training to learn how to build a wellness team and create more opportunities for students to make healthy choices. In "A" schools, student leaders ("Student Wellness Champions") will meet weekly during lunch with a health educator to receive training as peer leaders and help the Wellness Champion with wellness initiatives. Student leaders in "B" and "C" schools will receive a monthly general Adolescent Health Curriculum. To assess the impact of the teacher and student-led interventions, the evaluation cohort will be followed for 2.5 years, with measures including: anthropometry (height/weight), 7-day accelerometry (physical activity), and validated questionnaires to assess healthy eating. Student leaders will be followed for 1.5 years to assess the impact of their participation, with measures including: anthropometry, 7-day accelerometry, validated questionnaires to assess healthy eating, and validated questionnaires and focus groups to assess leadership/advocacy skills. Teachers will complete validated questionnaires to investigate their perceptions of the school environment, classroom practices, and role modeling skills. Prior to data collection and analysis, participants will be assigned an identification number, and all documents linking participant information to identification numbers will be locked/ password-protected.

Publications & conference data

3 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies or practices targeting diet, physical activity, obesity, tobacco or alcohol use.
   Lee DC, O'Brien KM, McCrabb S, Wolfenden L, et al · · 2024 · cited 11× · PMID 39665378 · DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd011677.pub4
2. Associations between elementary and middle school teachers' physical activity promoting practices and teacher- and school-level factors.
   Pulling Kuhn A, Kim E, Lane HG, Wang Y, et al · · 2021 · cited 9× · PMID 34011376 · DOI 10.1186/s12966-021-01129-4
3. Student perceptions of U.S. based school day physical activity best practices in relation to accelerometer-based sedentary behavior and activity.
   Kuhn AP, Choudhary A, Zemanick A, Lane H, et al · · 2025 · PMID 39807184 · DOI 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102944