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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03852173

Effects of a School-based Intervention to Increase the Water Consumption in Elementary School Children

The purpose of this controlled intervention study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based intervention aiming at increasing the water consumption in elementary school children. The intervention schools received refillable water bottles and drying racks for all school children as well as educational material. The focus of the intervention is the promotion of drinking tap water.

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Key information

Conditions

Water Consumption Behavior Drinking Behavior Feeding Behavior Food Preferences

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Lower Austrian Health and Social Fund

Sankt Pölten, 3100, Austria

About this study

This pilot project, called "H2NOE-Wasserschulen" (Water Schools in Lower Austria), aims to increase the water consumption of school children in elementary schools, to raise awareness of water drinking in children, parents and school teachers and to promote water drinking in Lower Austria in general.

By increasing the consumption of water, the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may decrease and in the long run may have a positive impact on children's body weight and tooth status.

All intervention schools receive refillable water bottles for each school child and drying racks for each classroom. Furthermore, in each school an information session for all school teachers is held and the teachers receive prepared educational material. The control schools do not receive the water bottles nor the educational material.

For the study, the investigators recruited 22 intervention schools and 32 control schools. Outcomes will be measured by paper and pencil questionnaires of school children at third grade of participating elementary schools in Lower Austria and with online questionnaires of teachers at baseline, at the end of the intervention (after one school year/June 2019) and at the one-year follow-up (after two school years/June 2020).

For process evaluation outcomes, the investigators will carry out focus group discussions with a subsample of school children and teachers and include questions in the respective questionnaires for school children, teachers and school headmasters. Parents will have the possibility to give feedback online.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

For the intervention schools:

Inclusion criteria

  • elementary school in Niederösterreich (Upper Austria, a province of Austria)
  • no juice provided with the school milk programme

For the school children taking part in the survey:

Inclusion criteria

  • school children in third class of elementary school (at baseline)
  • written declaration of consent by a parent/guardian

Treatment and study plan

Wasserschulen

Behavioral

Schools receive following materials and trainings:

  • one training sessions for teachers (at the beginning of the intervention)
  • refillable water bottles for each school student
  • drying rack for water bottles for each classroom
  • educational material for each class and for school events
  • informational material for parents

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in water consumption of school children (from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up)

    Time frame: baseline, end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months), follow-up (after two school years, 21 months)

    consumption of tap water, in number of glasses (with 1 glass defined as 200 mL) per day/ during school time (self-report)

  2. Change of attitude of school children towards drinking water (from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up)

    Time frame: baseline, end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months), follow-up (after two school years, 21 months)

    preference for water and sugar-sweetened beverages (measured as agreement to various statements regarding water and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption with 5 likert-scale answer categories: yes, that's right; yes, mostly; no, mostly not; no, not true; I don't know)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in beverage consumption of school children (from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up)

    Time frame: baseline, end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months), follow-up (after two school years, 21 months)

    consumption of tap water, mineral water, fruit- and herbal tea, milk and cacao, soft drinks (lemonade, cola and iced tea), juice and juice with water; in number of glasses (with 1 glass defined as 200 mL) for the last 24h

  2. Change in food consumption of school children (from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up)

    Time frame: baseline, end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months), follow-up (after two school years, 21 months)

    consumption of fruit and berries; vegetables (raw or cooked); sweets, chocolate or ice-cream; soft drinks (lemonade, cola and iced tea); fast food (french fries, chicken nuggets, pizza, McDonald's, sausages); salty snacks (crisps, popcorn, salted pretzel sticks); frequency of consumption during a normal week, when thinking of the last weeks

  3. Change in breakfast consumption of school children (from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up)

    Time frame: baseline, end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months), follow-up (after two school years, 21 months)

    frequency of eating breakfast during school days and on the weekend

  4. Parameters of process evaluation (implementation dose)

    Time frame: end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months)

    frequency of addressing the topic water during regular lessons, implementation of classroom rules for water drinking, extent of water bottle use of school children; by online questionnaire (all teachers from intervention schools); extent of water bottle use, by paper and pencil questionnaire (all school children from intervention schools); number of interventional material distributed in school; by online questionnaire (all headmasters from intervention schools)

  5. Parameters of process evaluation (implementation fidelity)

    Time frame: end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months)

    implementation of classroom rules for water drinking; extent of information for parents; by online questionnaire (all teachers from intervention schools)

  6. Parameters of process evaluation (implementation reach)

    Time frame: end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months)

    proportion of classes that implemented the intervention, information about intervention on the school homepage, number of interventional material distributed in school; by online questionnaire (all headmasters from intervention schools); extent of information for parents; by online questionnaire (all teachers from intervention schools)

  7. Parameters of process evaluation (acceptance)

    Time frame: end of intervention (after one school year, 9 months)

    focus group discussions with a subset of school children, teachers and school headmasters

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Danube University Krems

Other

Collaborators

  • Lower Austrian Health and Social Fund
  • Medical University of Vienna

Registry information

Official study title

Process and Outcome Evaluation of an Intervention to Increase the Water Consumption of Elementary School Children in Lower Austria - a Pilot Study

Acronym: H2NOE

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Feb 25, 2019
Registry last updated
Sep 13, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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