Childhood ObesityNCT02467816
Technology and Design Innovation for School Lunch
A study testing SmartMeal application, Distributed points of sale and Staff wellness curriculum in people with Childhood Obesity, run by University of California, Berkeley at 24 sites in United States.
Trial summary
This study will evaluate an innovative school lunch intervention that is designed to increase school meal participation and improve dietary intake among middle and high school students. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Childhood Obesity
- What is being tested?
- SmartMeal application, Distributed points of sale and Staff wellness curriculum
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 27,406 participants
- Where
- 24 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- Feb 2016to Jun 2018
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- All 7th-10th grade students at participating schools are eligible to participate in the student survey
- All 6th-12th grade students who eat the school lunch are eligible to participate in plate waste data collection
- All 7th-10th grade teachers are eligible to participate in the teacher survey
Who cannot join
- There are no exclusion criteria
Trial locations and contacts
24 sites in 1 country.
24 sites in 1 country
United States24 sites
Academy High School and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts
San Francisco, California
AP Giannini Middle School
San Francisco, California
Aptos Middle School
San Francisco, California
Balboa High School
San Francisco, California
Burton High School
San Francisco, California
Everett Middle School
San Francisco, California
Francisco Middle School
San Francisco, California
Galileo High School
San Francisco, California
Herbert Hoover Middle School
San Francisco, California
James Denman Middle School
San Francisco, California
James Lick Middle School
San Francisco, California
John O'Connell High School
San Francisco, California
June Jordan High School
San Francisco, California
Lincoln High School
San Francisco, California
Lowell High School
San Francisco, California
Marina Middle School
San Francisco, California
Marshall High School
San Francisco, California
Martin Luther King Middle School
San Francisco, California
Mission High School
San Francisco, California
Presidio Middle School
San Francisco, California
Roosevelt Middle School
San Francisco, California
Visitacion Valley Middle School
San Francisco, California
Wallenberg High School
San Francisco, California
Washington High School
San Francisco, California
About this study
Official title: Technology and Design Innovation to Support 21st Century School Nutrition
This study will evaluate an innovative school lunch intervention that is designed to increase school meal participation and improve dietary intake among middle and high school students.
Read the detailed description
Improving dietary intake among low-income youth is critical to reducing obesity, and schools are arguably the most important system in which to intervene. In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to better align school meal standards with the Dietary Guidelines, making school meals a nutritious option for students. Increasing participation in the school meal program, therefore, especially among low-income youth, has the potential to improve dietary intake among students and ultimately reduce childhood obesity.
Over three school years, the University of California (Berkeley's School of Public Health and the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources' Nutrition Policy Institute) will evaluate an innovative, student-centered school-lunch intervention to increase school lunch participation and improve dietary intake among low-income middle and high school students. The project will be conducted in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), a large and diverse urban district serving over 32,000 students (70% of total) eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The intervention, developed in partnership with the global design firm IDEO, aims to promote healthier habits by leveraging principals of behavior economics. The intervention involves the following three components: 1) a smartphone application (SmartMeal) that allows students to pre-order school lunches, receive nutrition information about school lunch options, and provide feedback about meals to food service staff, 2) distributed points of sale for school meals, achieved through the addition of mobile food carts and vending machines, and 3) a staff wellness curriculum that encourages staff to promote school meals and model healthful eating behaviors to students.
- Conditions
- Childhood Obesity
- Being tested
- SmartMeal application, Distributed points of sale, Staff wellness curriculum
- Keywords
- Secondary schools, School lunch, Plate waste
- Medical subject headings
- Pediatric Obesity
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
SmartMeal applicationBehavioural
The SmartMeal application is a smartphone application that will allow students to pre-order school meals, receive nutrition information about school meals, and provide feedback about school meals to Student Nutrition Services.
Distributed points of saleBehavioural
To increase points of sale for school meals (outside the cafeteria), school meals will be sold at hot and cold mobile food carts and vending machines throughout the school.
Staff wellness curriculumBehavioural
A wellness curriculum will be implemented that encourages teachers and staff members to eat school meals and promote them to students.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| School lunch intervention | Experimental | Intervention schools (6 middle and 6 high) will receive the complete school lunch intervention for two school years. Receives: Behavioral: SmartMeal application; Behavioral: Distributed points of sale; Behavioral: Staff wellness curriculum |
| School lunch control | No intervention | Control schools (6 middle and 6 high) will not receive the school lunch intervention for two school years. Lunch delivery will proceed as normal. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in school lunch participation
Daily school lunch participation records broken down by grade, gender, and free or reduced-price meal eligibility at each school.
Measured: 2 years
Secondary outcomes (10)
Change in plate waste during lunch among students who eat school lunch
Individual-level waste of food components achieved through visual estimation and aggregate waste of food components achieved through weighing.
Measured: 2 school years
Change in fruit consumption at lunch
Student survey that asks about fruits consumed at lunch yesterday
Measured: 2 school years
Change in vegetable consumption at lunch
Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed at lunch yesterday
Measured: 2 school years
Change in weekly fruit consumption
Student survey that asks about fruits consumed during a typical week
Measured: 2 school years
Change in weekly vegetable consumption
Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed during a typical week
Measured: 2 school years
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students at lunch
Student survey that asks about fruits consumed at lunch yesterday
Measured: 2 school years
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students at lunch
Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed at lunch yesterday
Measured: 2 school years
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students each week
Student survey that asks about fruits consumed during a typical week
Measured: 2 school years
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students each week
Student survey that asks about vegetables consumed during a typical week
Measured: 2 school years
Change in body mass index (index)
BMI data collected each year on 7th and 9th grade students via the California Physical Fitness Test
Measured: 2 school years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted10 Jun 2015 (estimated)
- Study startFeb 2016
- Primary completionJun 2018
- Study completionJun 2018
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Childhood ObesityStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 27,406 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, Berkeley
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of California
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Kristine A Madsen, MD MPH, Principal investigator, University of California, BerkeleyLorrene Ritchie, PhD RD, Principal investigator, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02467816
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2014-12-7010
- Status last verified
- May 2019
- First submitted
- 8 Jun 2015
- Last updated
- 14 May 2019
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 14 May 2019. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Technology and Design Innovation to Support 21st Century School Nutrition
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02467816
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2014-12-7010
- Conditions
- Childhood Obesity
- Keywords
- Secondary schools, School lunch, Plate waste
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 27,406 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, BerkeleyUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of California
- Study start
- Feb 2016
- Primary completion
- Jun 2018 (actual)
- Study completion
- Jun 2018 (actual)
- First posted
- 10 Jun 2015 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will evaluate an innovative school lunch intervention that is designed to increase school meal participation and improve dietary intake among middle and high school students.
Detailed description
Improving dietary intake among low-income youth is critical to reducing obesity, and schools are arguably the most important system in which to intervene. In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to better align school meal standards with the Dietary Guidelines, making school meals a nutritious option for students. Increasing participation in the school meal program, therefore, especially among low-income youth, has the potential to improve dietary intake among students and ultimately reduce childhood obesity.
Over three school years, the University of California (Berkeley's School of Public Health and the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources' Nutrition Policy Institute) will evaluate an innovative, student-centered school-lunch intervention to increase school lunch participation and improve dietary intake among low-income middle and high school students. The project will be conducted in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), a large and diverse urban district serving over 32,000 students (70% of total) eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The intervention, developed in partnership with the global design firm IDEO, aims to promote healthier habits by leveraging principals of behavior economics. The intervention involves the following three components: 1) a smartphone application (SmartMeal) that allows students to pre-order school lunches, receive nutrition information about school lunch options, and provide feedback about meals to food service staff, 2) distributed points of sale for school meals, achieved through the addition of mobile food carts and vending machines, and 3) a staff wellness curriculum that encourages staff to promote school meals and model healthful eating behaviors to students.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| School lunch intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: SmartMeal application, Behavioral: Distributed points of sale, Behavioral: Staff wellness curriculumIntervention schools (6 middle and 6 high) will receive the complete school lunch intervention for two school years. |
| School lunch control | No intervention | –Control schools (6 middle and 6 high) will not receive the school lunch intervention for two school years. Lunch delivery will proceed as normal. |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- All 7th-10th grade students at participating schools are eligible to participate in the student survey
- All 6th-12th grade students who eat the school lunch are eligible to participate in plate waste data collection
- All 7th-10th grade teachers are eligible to participate in the teacher survey
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- There are no exclusion criteria
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| SmartMeal applicationThe SmartMeal application is a smartphone application that will allow students to pre-order school meals, receive nutrition information about school meals, and provide feedback about school meals to Student Nutrition Services. | Behavioural | School lunch intervention |
| Distributed points of saleTo increase points of sale for school meals (outside the cafeteria), school meals will be sold at hot and cold mobile food carts and vending machines throughout the school. | Behavioural | School lunch intervention |
| Staff wellness curriculumA wellness curriculum will be implemented that encourages teachers and staff members to eat school meals and promote them to students. | Behavioural | School lunch intervention |
Primary outcome
Change in school lunch participation
Time frame: 2 years
Daily school lunch participation records broken down by grade, gender, and free or reduced-price meal eligibility at each school.
10 secondary outcomes
Change in plate waste during lunch among students who eat school lunch
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in fruit consumption at lunch
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in vegetable consumption at lunch
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in weekly fruit consumption
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in weekly vegetable consumption
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students at lunch
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students at lunch
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in variety of fruits consumed by students each week
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in variety of vegetables consumed by students each week
Time frame: 2 school years
Change in body mass index (index)
Time frame: 2 school years
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 14 May 2019.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Kristine A Madsen, MD MPH principal investigator
University of California, Berkeley
Lorrene Ritchie, PhD RD principal investigator
University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
24 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing SmartMeal application, Distributed points of sale and Staff wellness curriculum in people with Childhood Obesity, run by University of California, Berkeley at 24 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 14 May 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 24 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in school lunch participation (time frame: 2 years). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 14 May 2019; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 29 Oct 2026.