# Guys/Girls Opt for Activities for Life (GOAL) Trial

> **NIH NIH R33** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $763,071

## Abstract

Abstract
Inadequate physical activity and poor diet quality contribute to the high overweight/obesity (OW/O) prevalence
in adolescents, aged 12-19 years, indicating a need to intervene at or before age 12. Compared with other
adolescents, underserved (minority; low socioeconomic status) adolescents in urban areas exhibit more
unhealthy behaviors that increase their risk for obesity and related cardiovascular disease (CVD). Guided by
Self-Determination Theory and the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model, the novel 16-week
Guys/Girls Opt for Activities for Life (GOAL) intervention includes 3 components: 1) After-school GOAL Club:
26 120-minute events (2 days/week) for boys and girls that incorporate physical activity and healthy eating and
cooking; 2) Three parent-adolescent dyad meetings to empower dyads about physical activity and healthy
eating and cooking; and 3) GOAL social networking website so parents can motivate each other to help their
adolescents increase physical activity and diet quality. The purpose of this 5-yr group randomized trial (unit of
assignment is school) is to evaluate the effect of GOAL on decreasing CVD risk factors (high % body fat,
OW/O, low CV fitness), improving quality of life (QOL); and increasing motivation, self-efficacy, and social
support to increase MVPA and diet quality among underserved adolescents (5th–7th grade) having BMI z-score
≥0. The long-term goal is to improve the CV health of underserved adolescents to decrease health disparities,
a major priority of NHLBI. Eighteen schools will be randomly assigned to receive either GOAL (n=9) or usual
school offerings control (n=9) condition. Forty dyads of boys (n=20) and girls (n=20) in each school and one
parent per adolescent who is willing to serve as a support person will be enrolled (720 dyads total). Analysis
will be based on the intention-to-treat principle. Aims are to evaluate effect of the GOAL intervention, compared
to control, on: (1) Improving % body fat (primary outcome) by ≥2.5% between intervention and control
adolescents with a BMI z-score ≥0 from baseline (0 months) to 4 months (immediate post-intervention) and to
13 months post-baseline (9-mon. F/U); (2) Increasing secondary proximal outcomes among adolescents:
MVPA (via accelerometers; min/hr) and diet quality (healthy eating index based on 3 24-hr dietary recalls) from
0 to 4 months; (3) Improving secondary distal outcomes: CV fitness (Progressive Aerobic CV Endurance Run,
[15- or 20-m shuttle run]) from 0 to 4 months; and BMI, OW/O percentage, & QOL from 0 to 4 months and to
13 months; and (4) Increasing social support, self-efficacy, and motivation with evaluation of any mediating
effect on adolescent PA and diet quality. An exploratory aim (parents) is to evaluate any effect of GOAL,
compared to control, on: (1) Improving parents’ perceived family nutrition and PA, MVPA (via accelerometers),
and diet quality (fruit-vegetable-fiber screener) from 0 to 4 months; and (2) Reducing p...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10475573
- **Project number:** 5R33HL144896-03
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lorraine Brenda Robbins
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $763,071
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10475573

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10475573, Guys/Girls Opt for Activities for Life (GOAL) Trial (5R33HL144896-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10475573. Licensed CC0.

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