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Public health
Protocol
Cluster randomised controlled trial of a multicomponent intervention to support the implementation of policies and practices that promote healthier environments at junior sports clubs: study protocol
  1. Sharin Milner1,
  2. Shauna Sherker1,
  3. Tara Clinton-McHarg2,
  4. Julia Dray2,
  5. Nadya Zukowski3,
  6. Sharleen Gonzalez2,
  7. Melanie Kingsland2,4,
  8. Jia Ying Ooi2,
  9. Allan Murphy1,
  10. Daisy Brooke1,
  11. John Wiggers2,4,
  12. Luke Wolfenden2,4
  1. 1 Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Melbourne, Australia
  2. 2 School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
  3. 3 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
  4. 4 Hunter New England Population Health, Wallsend, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Professor Luke Wolfenden; luke.wolfenden{at}hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Abstract

Introduction A large proportion of children and adolescents participate in organised sport, making community sports clubs a promising setting to support healthy behaviours. To date, however, there have been few interventions conducted in junior sports clubs that have targeted health-promoting practices. The primary aim of this pilot study is to assess the potential effectiveness of an intervention to implement health-promoting policies and practices in junior sporting clubs targeting alcohol and tobacco practices, healthy food and beverage availability, and physical activity via participation in sport. A secondary outcome is to assess the impact of such strategies on child exposure to alcohol and tobacco use at the club, purchasing behaviours by/for children at the club canteen and child sports participation opportunities.

Methods and analysis The study will employ a cluster randomised controlled trial design and be conducted in metropolitan and regional areas of two Australian states. Randomisation will occur at the level of the football league. Community football clubs with over 40 junior players (players under 18 years) within each league will be eligible to participate. The intervention will be developed based on frameworks that consider the social, cultural and environmental factors that influence health behaviours. Intervention clubs will be supported to implement 16 practices targeting alcohol management, tobacco use, nutrition practices, new player recruitment activity, equal participation for players and the development of policies to support these practices. Trained research staff will collect outcome data via telephone interviews at baseline and follow-up. Interviews will be conducted with both club representatives and parents of junior players.

Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee (H-2013-0429). The results of the study will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences.

Trial registration number ACTRN12617001044314; Pre-results.

  • sporting clubs
  • randomised controlled trial
  • implementation
  • prevention
  • risk factors

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018906

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors SM, SS, MK, AM, DB, JW and LW contributed to the conception of the project and intervention content. SM, SS, TCM, JD, NZ, SG, JYO and LW contributed to the study design, intervention development and evaluation methods. All authors drafted, critically reviewed and edited the final manuscript. All authors approved the version to be published and are responsible for its accuracy.

    • Funding This study is funded by a NIB Foundation Multi-Year Partnership Grant and a Cancer Council NSW Program Grant (PG 16-05). LW is funded by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (APP1128348) and a Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (award no. 101175). NZ is supported by a Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship. Infrastructure funding is provided by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Hunter New England Population Health, The University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval The University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.