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Obesity, ChildhoodNU-HOMENCT02973815

New Ulm at HOME (Healthy Offerings Via the Mealtime Environment), NU-HOME

A study testing NU-HOME Intervention in people with Obesity, Childhood and Physical Activity, run by University of Minnesota at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of the proposed project is to see if an innovative family-based intervention can reduce childhood obesity by actively engaging the whole family in promoting healthy behaviors in the home. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 7 to 99 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Obesity, Childhood, Physical Activity, Food Intake
What is being tested?
NU-HOME Intervention
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
228 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Mar 2016to Aug 2022
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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 7 to 99 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • child between the ages of 7-10 who lives with the target adult at least 50% of the time
  • parent/guardian must be the primary-meal preparing parent/guardian

Who cannot join

  • planning to move out of the area in the next 6 months
  • medical condition that would prevent family from participating in group sessions

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of Minnesota, School of Nursing

    Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455

Other trials in United States

About this study

The goal of the proposed project is to see if an innovative family-based intervention can reduce childhood obesity by actively engaging the whole family in promoting healthy behaviors in the home. In addition, the project will also examine how the NU-HOME family intervention influences children's dietary intake, availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in the home and served at meals and snacks, physical activity as a family, and child screen time (TV, game systems). The study will build upon a similar project conducted in an urban area and translate the lessons learned and adapt the program for a rural community.

Read the detailed description

Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem. Although previous environmental approaches to obesity prevention show some promise, most studies have not shown excess weight gain reductions. Moreover, few childhood obesity prevention studies significantly engage parents or focus on the home environment, which is essential to promote healthy behaviors at home. Children in rural communities are particularly vulnerable regarding increased risk for obesity; thus, successful programs that engage families in rural communities to prevent excess weight gain are critical. The proposed research project, New Ulm at Home (NU-HOME), is a unique collaboration between leaders in a rural community (New Ulm, Minnesota) and successful academic obesity researchers. The residents of New Ulm are poised for and are requesting interventions to promote healthful behavior change, particularly for youth. In conjunction with our many community stakeholder groups, the objective of the proposed research is to test the effectiveness of the NU-HOME program, a 7-month, family-based health promotion intervention to prevent excess weight gain (assessed via BMI z-score) among 7-10 year old children (n=114) in the New Ulm rural community. The intervention program is based on Social Cognitive Theory and a socio-ecological framework and will focus on novel health promotion components to prevent childhood obesity, including: 1) promoting regular meals in which family members cook and eat together (i.e., family meals), 2) promoting nutritionally-sound and appropriately-portioned snacks and meals, 3) reducing sedentary behavior, particularly screen time in the home setting, and 4) promoting physical activity through collaboration with community partners. The NU-HOME study is designed in four stages, including substantial formative work between the academic and community partners, a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT; intervention and wait-list control), and two activities to facilitate sustainability (delayed intervention delivery for control group participants and dissemination). A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach will be used to adapt an existing program, HOME Plus that was piloted and shown to be effective in urban communities. The NU-HOME program has high translation potential and is likely to be immediately useful to rural families of school-age children because it will be tested in a real-world setting in collaboration with engaged, knowledgeable and influential community partners.

Being tested
NU-HOME Intervention
Keywords
family meals, home food availability
Medical subject headings
Pediatric Obesity, Motor Activity

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • NU-HOME InterventionBehavioural

    The NU-HOME family intervention program consists of seven monthly group sessions, individual goal setting calls and online materials to support the sessions. The intervention focuses on promoting healthful family meals where parents and children cook and eat together, healthful home food and physical activity environments, and being active together as a family.

Study groups in NCT02973815
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
NU-HOME InterventionExperimentalParticipants randomized to the intervention condition will receive the NU-HOME family intervention program that includes group sessions with other families focused on nutrition education, cooking skills, and physical activity. The intervention program also includes individual goal setting phone calls with parents and online, complementary materials.
Receives: Behavioral: NU-HOME Intervention
Delayed InterventionNo interventionParticipants randomized to the delayed intervention condition will not receive any educational materials or training until after the final data collection. Once all data collection is completed, they will receive a shortened version of the NU-HOME intervention program that was offered to the intervention families.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in Child Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score

    Trained study staff will measure weight and height to calculate body mass index (BMI) then adjust for the child's age and sex to get BMI percentiles and z-scores. A Z-score of 0 represents the population mean with a z-score above zero indicating BMI above the population mean and a negative z-score indicating values below the population mean.

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

Secondary outcomes (7)
  1. Change in Home Availability of Fruits

    Participants will report the number of fruits available in their home using the Home Food Inventory.

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

  2. Change in Home Availability of Vegetables

    Participants will report the number of vegetables available in their home using the Home Food Inventory.

    Measured: Post Intervention (9 months after baseline)

  3. Change in the Quality of Food and Beverages Served at Family Meals

    Participants will report details of food offerings at 7 days of evening meals using the Evening Meal Screener and the quality will be assessed by using a healthfulness score that combines multiple aspects of the meal into a single score. We created the Healthfulness of the Evening Meal Scale which has a range of (-4 to 11) where higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

  4. Change in Dietary Intake of Vegetables

    Child dietary intake will be assessed using mean number of servings of vegetables from two 24-hour dietary recalls

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

  5. Change in Child Dietary Intake of Fruit

    Child dietary intake will be assessed using mean number of servings of fruit from two 24-hour dietary recalls

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

  6. Change in Minutes of Child Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity

    Children will wear an accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT and GT3XP-BTLE models) for 7 days to measure their activity levels (e.g., minutes of Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity). Trained research staff distributed the monitors to child participants who wore the monitors on their right hip for 7 consecutive days during most waking hours, except when sleeping or doing water-related activities. Data were collected in 10-second epochs. Accelerometer data were analyzed with ActiLife software (version 6.9.1). Non-wear time was defined as any period of >60 minutes of consecutive zeros. To be included in the analyses, participants had to have a minimum of >8 hours of wear time on >3 days. Evenson cutpoints for children were used to classify physical activity intensites: sedentary (0-100), light (101-2295), moderate (2296-4011), and vigorous (>4012). Minutes engaged in Moderate to Vigorous Physical activity was analyzed.

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

  7. Change in Child Screen Time Use

    Parents will report on child's daily minutes of screen time.

    Measured: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted25 Nov 2016 (estimated)
  2. Study startMar 2016
  3. Primary completionJan 2020
  4. Study completionAug 2022

Resources

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
228 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02973815
Sponsor's protocol ID
1509S78583
Other IDs
1R01HL123699
Acronym
NU-HOME
Status last verified
Sep 2022
First submitted
8 Nov 2016
Last updated
7 Oct 2022
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Baltaci A, Laska MN, Jiang Z, Lytle LA, Hearst MO, Fulkerson JA. Home Availability of Different Forms of Fruits and Vegetables and Parent/Child Diet by Income: Findings from 4 Studies. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2025 Dec;57(12):1112-1121. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2025.07.007. Epub 2025 Sep 1.

    PubMed 40888773
  • Lee J, Helgeson E, Horning ML, Elgesma KM, Kubik MY, Fulkerson JA. Food Insecurity and Changes in Diet Quality and Body Mass Index z-Scores Among Elementary School Students. Child Obes. 2024 Oct;20(7):508-516. doi: 10.1089/chi.2023.0185. Epub 2024 Mar 28.

    PubMed 38546529
  • Horning ML, Friend S, Freese RL, Barr-Anderson DJ, Linde JA, Sidebottom A, Sommerness SA, Fulkerson JA. Parent Weight, Diet, Active Living, and Food-Related Outcomes of the Family-Focused:NU-HOME Randomized Controlled Trial: NU-HOME Randomized Controlled Trial. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2023 May;123(5):751-760.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2022.10.009. Epub 2022 Oct 13.

    PubMed 36244610
  • Linde JA, Horning Dehmer ML, Lee J, Friend S, Flattum C, Arcan C, Fulkerson JA. Associations of parent dietary role modeling with children's diet quality in a rural setting: Baseline data from the NU-HOME study. Appetite. 2022 Jul 1;174:106007. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106007. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

    PubMed 35331787
  • Fulkerson JA, Horning M, Barr-Anderson DJ, Sidebottom A, Linde JA, Lindberg R, Friend S, Beaudette J, Flattum C, Freese RL. Weight outcomes of NU-HOME: a randomized controlled trial to prevent obesity among rural children. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2022 Mar 19;19(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12966-022-01260-w.

    PubMed 35305674
  • Horning ML, Friend S, Lee J, Flattum C, Fulkerson JA. Family Characteristics Associated with Preparing and Eating More Family Evening Meals at Home. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2022 Jan;122(1):121-128. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2021.07.002. Epub 2021 Aug 13.

    PubMed 34399976
  • Fulkerson JA, Horning ML, Barr-Anderson DJ, Linde JA, Sidebottom AC, Lindberg R, Friend S, Flattum C, Freese RL. Universal childhood obesity prevention in a rural community: Study design, methods and baseline participant characteristics of the NU-HOME randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2021 Jan;100:106160. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2020.106160. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

    PubMed 33002598
  • Martin CL, Kramer-Kostecka EN, Linde JA, Friend S, Zuroski VR, Fulkerson JA. Leveraging Interdisciplinary Teams to Develop and Implement Secure Websites for Behavioral Research: Applied Tutorial. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Sep 23;22(9):e19217. doi: 10.2196/19217.

    PubMed 32965234

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing NU-HOME Intervention in people with Obesity, Childhood and Physical Activity, run by University of Minnesota 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 2 inclusion and 2 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 7 Oct 2022. 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?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 7 Oct 2022). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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 Child Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score (time frame: Post intervention (9 months after baseline)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02973815, which also lists 8 linked publications.

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 7 Oct 2022.

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