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Clinical Trial Details — Status: Suspended

Administrative data

NCT number NCT03338257
Other study ID # 17-069-3
Secondary ID 601305
Status Suspended
Phase N/A
First received
Last updated
Start date May 1, 2017
Est. completion date December 31, 2022

Study information

Verified date November 2021
Source UConn Health
Contact n/a
Is FDA regulated No
Health authority
Study type Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Since 1998, UCONN undergraduate students have volunteered as part of a service- learning course to deliver a program called Husky Reads. Inspired by the nationally accepted American Academy of Pediatrics' program "Reach Out and Read," Husky Reads was first designed for promotion of health, nutrition habits and literacy by reading health-oriented books to young children in pediatric and health clinics. The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis. This series targets children at an early age because early childhood is a pivotal time to influence the path towards healthy behaviors and away from obesity. The effectiveness of the Husky Reads curriculum on a preschool age child's correct identification and liking of fruits and vegetables has not been established. The proposed evaluation uses a pre-test/post- test control group design with paired data at the child level to explore whether children who participate in Husky Reads have increased odds of correctly identifying the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "MyPlate" program (MyPlate) and food group concepts and trying or liking select fruits and vegetables.


Description:

Since 1998, University of Connecticut (UCONN) undergraduate students have volunteered as part of a service- learning course to deliver a program called Husky Reads. Inspired by the nationally accepted American Academy of Pediatrics' program "Reach Out and Read," Husky Reads was first designed for promotion of health, nutrition habits and literacy by reading health-oriented books to young children in pediatric and health clinics. The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children's book, an activity or game, and food tasting to complement learning objectives related to MyPlate and fruit/vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis. This series targets children at an early age because early childhood is a pivotal time to influence the path towards healthy behaviors and away from obesity. Providing food tastings and increasing exposure to foods like fruits and vegetables is especially relevant because food preferences are developed in early childhood. Early childhood is also an important time for introducing healthy behaviors because once obesity is established in childhood; it often tracks through to adulthood and is difficult to reverse through interventions. The effectiveness of the Husky Reads curriculum on a preschool age child's MyPlate knowledge and correct identification and liking of fruits and vegetables has not been established. A more comprehensive evaluation is needed to establish if the program is effective and contributes to quality improvement efforts. Findings from a prior evaluation suggest the ability of preschoolers to identify blueberries, strawberries, carrots and broccoli increased significantly after participation in one Husky Reads lesson. Although the findings were promising, the evaluation design lacked a control group and relied on a classroom wide assessment with hands raised as a response rather than measuring whether the ability to identify the produce items changed for a given child after participation in Husky Reads. Therefore, a more thorough evaluation of whether Husky Reads helps children learn to identify select fruits and vegetables is still needed. Questions also remain whether Husky Reads increases the odds of a child tasting and/or liking select fruits and vegetables as well as recognition of MyPlate and foods in different food groups. The proposed evaluation uses a pre-test/post- test control group design with paired data at the child level to explore whether children who participate in Husky Reads have increased odds of identifying MyPlate and food group concepts , and correctly identifying,trying or liking select fruits and vegetables.


Recruitment information / eligibility

Status Suspended
Enrollment 900
Est. completion date December 31, 2022
Est. primary completion date December 31, 2022
Accepts healthy volunteers No
Gender All
Age group 35 Months to 71 Months
Eligibility Inclusion Criteria: - child attending center or school based early care with high family enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) Exclusion Criteria: - child whose parent has signed the "opt out" portion of the notification form.

Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


Intervention

Behavioral:
Husky Reads Intervention
The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children's book, an activity or game, and food tasting to complement learning objectives related to MyPlate and fruit/vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis.

Locations

Country Name City State
United States UConn Health Farmington Connecticut

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor Collaborator
UConn Health

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (2)

Carraway-Stage V, Spangler H, Borges M, Goodell LS. Evaluation of a pictorial method to assess liking of familiar fruits and vegetables among preschool children. Appetite. 2014 Apr;75:11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.12.011. Epub 2013 Dec 21. — View Citation

Larsen AL, Liao Y, Alberts J, Huh J, Robertson T, Dunton GF. RE-AIM Analysis of a School-Based Nutrition Education Intervention in Kindergarteners. J Sch Health. 2017 Jan;87(1):36-46. doi: 10.1111/josh.12466. — View Citation

Outcome

Type Measure Description Time frame Safety issue
Primary Identification of MyPlate Ability to name MyPlate (Larsen et al) Three week post 10-week intervention
Primary Ability to place foods in MyPlate food groups Measured by using the Food Group Game, informed by Building a Healthy Me! evaluation survey. (Larsen et al.) Three week post 10-week intervention
Primary Identification of specified fruits and vegetables Identification using modified Carraway-Stage protocol Three week post 10-week intervention
Primary Preference for specified fruits and vegetables Fruit and vegetable liking as measured by modified Carraway-Stage protocol Three week post 10-week intervention
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