NASA Mission X Program for Healthy Eating and Active Living among Taiwanese Elementary School Students

This study assessed the effects of an intervention program adapted from the NASA Mission X (MX) program on children's Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) knowledge and behaviors and anthropometry.

This clustered randomized control trial recruited 8 elementary schools in remote rural areas of Northern Taiwan. The intervention was the 8-week MX program. All the 3rd and 4th graders were invited to the study (n = 245). Children's weight, height, HEAL knowledge and behaviors were measured pre- and post-intervention.

The intervention group had significantly more improvements than control group in physical activity knowledge score (+0.91 vs. +0.25, p = 0.002), diet knowledge score (+0.62 vs. +0.17, p = 0.044), and score of interests in NASA and space exploration (+0.34 vs. -0.07, p < 0.0001). BMI increased from 18.4 to 18.6 (p < 0.05) for the control group but did not change for the intervention group. The changes in BMI between groups did not differ significantly.

This randomized controlled trial showed that the NASA MX program was feasible and acceptable among children in Taiwan, and improved children's HEAL knowledge. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT03355131).