---
title: A Participatory Parental Intervention Promoting Physical Activity in Preschools
nct_id: NCT00987532
overall_status: COMPLETED
phase: NA
sponsor: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
primary_condition: Obesity
countries: Germany
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT00987532.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00987532"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2023-05-11
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T07:25:04.385Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# A Participatory Parental Intervention Promoting Physical Activity in Preschools

**NCT ID:** [NCT00987532](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00987532)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** COMPLETED
- **Phase:** NA
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 1047
- **Lead Sponsor:** Universitätsmedizin Mannheim
- **Collaborators:** Baden-Württemberg Stiftung gGmbH
- **Conditions:** Obesity, Physical Activity
- **Start Date:** 2008-09
- **Completion Date:** 2011-03
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2023-05-11

## Brief Summary

The aim of this study is to test whether a parent-focused participatory intervention in addition to gym lessons can enhance preschoolers physical activity compared to gym lessons alone.

## Detailed Description

Over the last 20 years, physical activity (PA) in children has rapidly decreased in both developed and developing nations. More effective interventions to prevent inactivity in childhood thus are urgently needed. The preschool years, including the adiposity rebound period, might represent a good window of opportunity. Study literature suggests that targeting parents is crucial for lasting changes in young childrens' behavior. However, it is not known which methods are effective for involving parents in physical activity promotion. Consistent with experience from community-based participatory research, encouraging parents to participate the intervention in terms of content and structure might lead to higher intervention effectivity and sustainability. In our study, we therefore "enriched" a child-centered physical activity intervention in preschools (twice weekly gym lessons over 6 months) with a parent-focused participatory community intervention component.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 3 Years
- **Maximum age:** 6 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** Yes

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* age 3-6 years

Exclusion Criteria:

* severe atopic dermatitis,
* serious acute infectious diseases,
* physical malformations, and
* severe physical disabilities.
```

## Arms

- **parent intervention plus gym lessons** (EXPERIMENTAL) — Parent-focused participatory preschool intervention in addition to twice weekly gym lessons over 6 months. The participatory intervention includes parents, teachers and children.
- **gym lessons only** (ACTIVE_COMPARATOR) — Twice weekly one-hour gym lessons delivered by a specially trained external physical education teacher over 6 months

## Interventions

- **parent-focused intervention** (BEHAVIORAL) — The core of the parent-focused intervention is a menu of 15 easy to realize project ideas to promote the everyday physical activity of children and families. The 15 ideas are presented to the parents and teachers via a webpage, a printed book and a film. During a face-to-face meeting, parents and teachers are guided into discussions of their own preschool environment's and community's physical activity shortcomings and encouraged to generate their own ideas of how to enhance the physical activity of their families and preschools. Over the course of three structured follow-up meetings, parents and teachers are instructed to choose maximally 3 to 4 ideas from either the menu or the network's own ideas, and then are empowered to realize and implement them together.
- **twice weekly gym lessons** (BEHAVIORAL) — twice weekly one-hour gym lessons delivered by a specially trained external physical education teacher over 6 months

## Primary Outcomes

- **Absolute change in mean accelerometry counts over 6 days** _(time frame: baseline, end of intervention, six months after end of intervention)_

## Secondary Outcomes

- **Body Mass Index** _(time frame: baseline, end of intervention, six months after end of intervention)_

## Locations (1)

- Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.phases` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.maxAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.secondary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.collaborators` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.mannheim institute of public health, medical faculty mannheim, heidelberg university|mannheim|baden-wurttemberg|germany` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT00987532.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00987532*  
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