Health BehaviorNCT03952754
Effect of Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum
A study testing Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum and Food Explorers Program in people with Health Behavior, run by Columbia University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study is testing the efficacy of the integrative approach to: 1. teach 5th grade children menu board calorie literacy as measured by our novel recently validated menu board calorie literacy (MBCL) instrument; 2. provide strategies designed to improve food purchasing behaviors; and 3. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 9 to 12 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Health Behavior
- What is being tested?
- Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum and Food Explorers Program
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 560 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 7 Jan 2019to Jun 2027
- 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 9 to 12 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- 5th grade student participating in the New York Edge after school program
Who cannot join
- Absence of Internet access at home
- No working phone line
- Major psychiatric disability or medical condition that may affect participation (e.g., psychotic illness, terminal illness)
- Non-English speaking students
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, New York, 10032
About this study
Official title: Effect of an Integrated Nutrition-math Curriculum to Improve Food-purchasing Behavior of Children
This study is testing the efficacy of the integrative approach to:
- teach 5th grade children menu board calorie literacy as measured by our novel recently validated menu board calorie literacy (MBCL) instrument;
- provide strategies designed to improve food purchasing behaviors; and
- facilitate the transmission of core lesson messages from children to parents via a procedure that we have termed "Child Mediated Health Communication (CMHC)".
Read the detailed description
Data show that nearly 25% of children aged four to eight years consumed fast food on a typical day. These trends in fast food consumption are more acute among low-income urban dwellers where higher rates of overweight and childhood obesity are seen. This has led to a focus on providing fast food consumers with point-of-purchase nutrition information, such as the calorie posting mandates, in the hopes that these decision cues will help consumers make better informed dietary decisions. Most children chose their own meals at the point-of-purchase. It is clear that additional strategies are needed to encourage the point-of-purchase use of calorie postings, however available studies provide little insight into best practices or the types of approaches needed.
It is with this in mind that the investigator developed a school-based approach to improve point-of purchase use of calorie postings, by creating a novel intervention that targets menu board calorie literacy as a means of improving food-purchasing behaviors.
Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum is a novel behaviorally focused multimedia, musical school health rap toolkit that targets what we refer to as menu board calorie literacy. 4th grade common core math standards are integrated into the program in a manner that incorporates evidence-based nutrition education recommendations by the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The investigator proposes to test the efficacy of the integrative approach on food purchasing behaviors of children in an adequately powered, controlled trial. The investigator will test the intervention in the after-school setting among economically disadvantaged children and incorporate parental engagement in our outcome evaluations. There is a partnership with New York City's largest after-school program vendor, New York Edge (formerly called Sports and Arts in Schools foundation/SASF), for the implementation of this study.
The goal of a health literacy intervention is to improve health decision-making and/or behavior. For this reason, the investigator will measure both menu board calorie literacy and food choice behavior at a point-of-purchase.
- Conditions
- Health Behavior
- Being tested
- Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum, Food Explorers Program
- Keywords
- Nutrition, Health, School Children
- Medical subject headings
- Health Behavior
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Hip Hop Nutrition-Math CurriculumBehavioural
Also called Hip Hop Nutrition math-based education program
This program teaches children skills needed to understand restaurant-menu boards, how to make healthy food choices, while reinforcing the common core math concepts they are learning in school. The program consists of: 2 lessons a week, of about 1 hour each lesson, for a total of 20 lessons.
Food Explorers ProgramBehavioural
Also called Food Explorers Curriculum
After-school program Food Explorers will represent "Usual Care". This program comprises food and exploration activities, familiarizing children with diverse foods, nutrition concepts, tasty recipes and physical activity.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Group 2: Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum | Experimental | The intervention group will receive an tailored program for ten weeks, meeting twice a week. Receives: Behavioral: Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum |
| Group 1: Food Explorers Program | Active comparator | The control group will receive the usual care for nutrition program provided by the schools, called Food Explorers. The group will also be conducted ten weeks, meeting twice a week. Receives: Behavioral: Food Explorers Program |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Number of students with positive behavior change at Food Sales
Students will be tracked on the food purchases they make at "Food Sales" conducted through study.
Each child will be given an identifiable food voucher for use at the Food Sale. However, point-of-purchase behaviors will be assessed with the children unaware that their food choices being tracked. The food categories range from low calorie/nutrient to high.
A change from a purchase of a high-calorie/nutrient item to a low-calorie/nutrient item will indicate a positive behavior change.
Measured: Within Year5 of the study
Secondary outcomes (2)
Menu Board Calorie Literacy Score
Content knowledge of students will be assessed by the total number of correct responses on the survey measures.
Measured: Baseline, Post-Intervention (approximately 10 Weeks), 3-Month Follow Up
Parental Nutritional Knowledge Score
Nutrition knowledge score will be assessed using a 7-item questionnaire at Baseline, Immediately post intervention, and at 3-months post intervention. Changes in the composite score will be analyzed across each of the test sequences range of 0 - 7, with higher scores representing greater nutrition knowledge.
Measured: Baseline, Post-Intervention (approximately 10 Weeks), 3-Month Follow Up
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted16 May 2019
- Study start7 Jan 2019
- Primary completionMar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionJun 2027 (estimated)
Why it stopped: Administrative changes
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Health BehaviorStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Columbia UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- 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
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 560 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Olajide Williams, Columbia University
- Investigators
- Olajide A. Williams, MD, Principal investigator, Columbia University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03952754
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- AAAR5173
- Other IDs
- 5R01NR017571
- Status last verified
- Jun 2025
- First submitted
- 11 May 2019
- Last updated
- 13 Jun 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 13 Jun 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effect of an Integrated Nutrition-math Curriculum to Improve Food-purchasing Behavior of Children
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03952754
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- AAAR5173
- Conditions
- Health Behavior
- Keywords
- Nutrition, Health, School Children
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- SuspendedReason stopped: Administrative changes
- Enrolment
- 560 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Study start
- 7 Jan 2019 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Mar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Jun 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 16 May 2019 (actual)
- 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 is testing the efficacy of the integrative approach to:
- teach 5th grade children menu board calorie literacy as measured by our novel recently validated menu board calorie literacy (MBCL) instrument;
- provide strategies designed to improve food purchasing behaviors; and
- facilitate the transmission of core lesson messages from children to parents via a procedure that we have termed "Child Mediated Health Communication (CMHC)".
Detailed description
Data show that nearly 25% of children aged four to eight years consumed fast food on a typical day. These trends in fast food consumption are more acute among low-income urban dwellers where higher rates of overweight and childhood obesity are seen. This has led to a focus on providing fast food consumers with point-of-purchase nutrition information, such as the calorie posting mandates, in the hopes that these decision cues will help consumers make better informed dietary decisions. Most children chose their own meals at the point-of-purchase. It is clear that additional strategies are needed to encourage the point-of-purchase use of calorie postings, however available studies provide little insight into best practices or the types of approaches needed.
It is with this in mind that the investigator developed a school-based approach to improve point-of purchase use of calorie postings, by creating a novel intervention that targets menu board calorie literacy as a means of improving food-purchasing behaviors.
Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum is a novel behaviorally focused multimedia, musical school health rap toolkit that targets what we refer to as menu board calorie literacy. 4th grade common core math standards are integrated into the program in a manner that incorporates evidence-based nutrition education recommendations by the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The investigator proposes to test the efficacy of the integrative approach on food purchasing behaviors of children in an adequately powered, controlled trial. The investigator will test the intervention in the after-school setting among economically disadvantaged children and incorporate parental engagement in our outcome evaluations. There is a partnership with New York City's largest after-school program vendor, New York Edge (formerly called Sports and Arts in Schools foundation/SASF), for the implementation of this study.
The goal of a health literacy intervention is to improve health decision-making and/or behavior. For this reason, the investigator will measure both menu board calorie literacy and food choice behavior at a point-of-purchase.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Group 2: Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum | Experimental | Behavioral: Hip Hop Nutrition-Math CurriculumThe intervention group will receive an tailored program for ten weeks, meeting twice a week. |
| Group 1: Food Explorers Program | Active comparator | Behavioral: Food Explorers ProgramThe control group will receive the usual care for nutrition program provided by the schools, called Food Explorers. The group will also be conducted ten weeks, meeting twice a week. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 9 to 12 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- 5th grade student participating in the New York Edge after school program
Key exclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Absence of Internet access at home
- No working phone line
- Major psychiatric disability or medical condition that may affect participation (e.g., psychotic illness, terminal illness)
- Non-English speaking students
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hip Hop Nutrition-Math CurriculumAlso: Hip Hop Nutrition math-based education programThis program teaches children skills needed to understand restaurant-menu boards, how to make healthy food choices, while reinforcing the common core math concepts they are learning in school. The program consists of: 2 lessons a week, of about 1 hour each lesson, for a total of 20 lessons. | Behavioural | Group 2: Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum |
| Food Explorers ProgramAlso: Food Explorers CurriculumAfter-school program Food Explorers will represent "Usual Care". This program comprises food and exploration activities, familiarizing children with diverse foods, nutrition concepts, tasty recipes and physical activity. | Behavioural | Group 1: Food Explorers Program |
Primary outcome
Number of students with positive behavior change at Food Sales
Time frame: Within Year5 of the study
Students will be tracked on the food purchases they make at "Food Sales" conducted through study. Each child will be given an identifiable food voucher for use at the Food Sale. However, point-of-purchase behaviors will be assessed with the children unaware that their food choices being tracked. The food categories range from low calorie/nutrient to high. A change from a purchase of a high-calorie/nutrient item to a low-calorie/nutrient item will indicate a positive behavior change.
2 secondary outcomes
Menu Board Calorie Literacy Score
Time frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention (approximately 10 Weeks), 3-Month Follow Up
Parental Nutritional Knowledge Score
Time frame: Baseline, Post-Intervention (approximately 10 Weeks), 3-Month Follow Up
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 13 Jun 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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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.
Olajide A. Williams, MD principal investigator
Columbia University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Hip Hop Nutrition-Math Curriculum and Food Explorers Program in people with Health Behavior, run by Columbia University at 1 site 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 1 inclusion and 4 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: paused, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 Jun 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site 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?
Results are not available in the source record.
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?
Number of students with positive behavior change at Food Sales (time frame: Within Year5 of the study). 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 13 Jun 2025.