Impact of Mindful Eating and Movement on University Students' Food and Physical Literacy, and Social-Emotional Competencies

University of Macau

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Eating and Movement Program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06540898

HE-0138-2024

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate if the mindful eating and movement program can improve food literacy, physical literacy, and social-emotional competencies in university students aged 18-25 years. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Will the mindful eating and movement program lead to significant improvements in food literacy?
2. Will the mindful eating and movement program enhance physical literacy?
3. Will the mindful eating and movement program improve social-emotional competencies?

Researchers will compare an intervention group receiving the combined mindful practices with a control group participating in standard physical education to see if the intervention group shows greater improvements in these areas.

Participants will:

Engage in mindful eating exercises during the break of physical education classes for 10 minutes.

Participate in mindful movement exercises before each physical education class end for 10 minutes, in pairs or in groups.

Complete baseline, immediately post-intervention (8 weeks), and one month post-intervention (4 weeks after) assessments to measure changes in food literacy, physical literacy, and social-emotional competencies.

Enrollment: 144 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. University undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 years old who are not pregnant;
2. Chinese-speaking adults;
3. Willing to sign the consent form;
4. Willing to attend mindful practice regularly;
5. No prior experience with formal mindfulness practices such as mindful eating or mindful movement.

Exclusion criteria

1. Not university undergraduate students;
2. Below 18 years old or above 25;
3. Non-Chinese speaking adults;
4. Unable or refuse to sign the consent form;
5. Refuse to attend mindful practice regularly;
6. History of eating disorders;
7. Severe mental health disorders requiring ongoing treatment;
8. Physical conditions limiting participation in physical activities.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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144 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental Group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this arm engage in an 8-week program that integrates mindful eating and mindful movement practices into their regular physical education classes. Each class includes a 10-minute mindful eating practice focused on enhancing awareness of hunger and fullness cues, sensory experiences of food, and emotional responses to eating. Following this, the final 10 minutes of each class are dedicated to mindful movement exercises, which combine physical postures and movement with mindfulness techniques to promote food literacy, physical literacy and social emotional competencies.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Eating and Movement Program

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Standard Physical Education Participants in this arm continue with their regular physical education classes as usual, without the integration of any mindfulness practices. This control arm involves the standard activities and curriculum designed for physical education classes at the university, which may include a variety of physical exercises, sports, and theoretical instruction related to health and fitness.