Nutrition survey seeks students who want a healthier eating lifestyle

By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor & Reporter

Last spring’s pilot project was a resounding success and now that the preliminaries are over, URI and seven other universities are poised to launch a full-fledged web-based program designed to get students started on a path toward healthier eating habits for the rest of their lives.

Dr. Geoffrey Greene, a professor in the CELS Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and his research assistant, Susan Schembre, are making final preparations to enroll 225 freshmen, sophomores and juniors into a semester-long program that will provide them with guidelines for healthy eating and exercise.

The program is called Project WebHealth and Greene is the primary investigator on the $1.2 million grant from the USDA. He has enlisted seven other schools including Michigan State, Penn State, Syracuse Tuskegee, South Dakota State, University of Wisconsin, Madison and the University of Maine, which did the website work.

Staring in September, each school is expected to enroll 225 students (seniors are excluded because one facet of the program is that the students will be given a follow-up assessment one year after finishing the program).

Students can register to participate in the program by going to http://www.projectwebhealth.com. Participants will access the same website weekly for 10 weeks to take part in an interactive program that will guide them to more healthful eating and exercise habits that—it is hoped—will stick with them into their post-college lifestyles.

Because of the uniqueness of the project, it was decided to conduct a pilot program last spring to get the bugs out of the system.

Greene says very few problems arose during the pilot program. A couple of the weekly modules were tweaked because some students did not care for them and two lessons covering physical activity were changed. But basically, the pilot program went well

But basically, the pilot program went well.

What was even better news, says Greene, is that the results were extremely gratifying. Statistics compiled from the eight schools involved in the pilot showed that the students did not have any weight gain, that their consumption of fruits and vegetables went up as well as their exercising, that their uncontrolled eating episodes went down as did their “emotional” eating incidences (often caused by stress).

“It was a small scale, but it had the effect that we were looking for,” says Greene. “In the full study we hope to help people to keep from gaining weight.”

At URI, a total of 28 students started the pilot program. Of that number 12 only

completed some modules but 16 completed the whole program.

To enroll in the program, students had to meet certain criteria—and the same criteria will be involved with this fall’s full-fledged program.

Students must be 18-24 years old and be full-time freshmen, sophomores or juniors. They must be free from any chronic diseases. Students enrolled as nutrition or exercise majors are not eligible.

In addition, enrollees must have access to a computer, be willing to participate in online study and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) at or above 18.5. A handy BMI calculator which takes in height and weight factors is on the Project WebHealth site.

The first step for enrollees is to fill out an online survey and then make an appointment to complete physical assessments. At the appointment students will have their weight, height and waist circumference measured. In addition they will have their fitness level measured by a step test—stepping up and down on a wooden box that is about as high as a tall bleacher step. The measurements and the fitness test will be repeated at the end of the 10-week program and again 1 year after program completion for comparison. All students will be able to find out their own physical measurements at their assessment appointment. A special room has been renovated in Ranger Hall to conduct the assessments.

After undergoing the privately-conducted measurement/fitness test session, each participant will receive via e-mail the course’s 10 educational modules on nutrition and fitness—one each week. It is estimated that it will take about 15 minutes for participants to complete each module.

As an incentive students who complete the study will get $75--$10 at the first assessment, $25 for completing the 10-week post assessment, $40 for completing the assessment that will take place one year after they complete the program.

Greene said that while 225 students are needed for the program, only half of them, chosen at random, will be enrolled for this fall’s program. The rest of them will be enrolled a year from now. Those enrolled a year from now will serve as the control for those in the program this fall. Constant communication with those in the control group will be maintained and control students will receive the

incentives for completing assessments.

All 225 students will have a private profile page update so they can monitor how they are doing and see the results of their physical assessments.

Greene said they are aiming to have 40 percent males in the study. To get that percentage they may have to tweak the recruiting, he says, because there may be a high percentage of women responding to the call for volunteers. Women tend to be more interested in weight issues, says Greene.

“There are two goals—get physical exercise and eat fruits and vegetables,” says Greene who stresses that the program will not push specific exercises. There are recommendations offered but each student will be encouraged to do what physical activities they are interested in, adds Greene.

Deborah A. Riebe, chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Bryan J. Blissmer, associate professor of physical education, developed the exercise lessons, says Greene.

Schembre, who will be monitoring the program via e-mail, says all of the data that will be collected will be confidential. There is a built-in tracking system that will monitor participation. If for example an enrollee does not respond to the modules for a couple of weeks, they will be sent a reminder by e-mail.

While confidentiality will be a hallmark of the program, participants will be able to communicate through a chat room using pseudonyms.

Greene says he is excited about the launch of the full-fledged program which will be advertised by articles like this, flyers and classroom announcements. The program will enlist NFS undergrads to help with recruitment and assessment. For students who plan on graduate study, getting experiential experience is important, he notes.

If you are interested in participating in this study and receiving $75 please register online at www.projectwebhealth.com. For more information feel free to contact Sue at sschembre@mail.uri.edu.

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