Promoting Vegetable Intake in Preschool Aged Children

Health Behavior Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Randomised Control Trial of an Educational and Taste-exposure Intervention to Promote Vegetable Intake in Preschool Aged Children

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03003923
• Other study ID #: Chandani Nekitsing
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 15, 2016
• Last updated: January 8, 2018
• Start date: September 2016
• Est. completion date: August 2017

Study information

• Verified date: January 2018
• Source: University of Leeds
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The aim of this cluster randomised control trial is to test the efficacy of a repeated taste exposure intervention, a nutritional educational intervention and combination of both to increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in preschool aged children (aged 3-5 years).

Description:

The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of a repeated taste exposure intervention, a nutritional educational intervention and combination of both to increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in preschool aged children (aged 3-5 years). In particular the study will assess whether these strategies are effective to encourage intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in children who are fussy eaters or going through the food neophobia phase. The effectiveness of these interventions will also be observed overtime at 3 and 6 months post intervention.

Nurseries will be randomised into one of four conditions over the 12 week intervention period; these include educational intervention only, taste exposures only, taste exposures and educational intervention or no intervention (control group). All children will be offered an unfamiliar vegetable prior to the intervention and after the intervention to evaluate changes in intake of the unfamiliar vegetable. The repeated taste exposure groups will be offered the novel vegetable repeatedly (1 exposure per week) over the 12 week period. For the educational intervention nursery staff will be advised to deliver two components of an existing PhunkyFoods educational programme over the same period.

Parents will be asked some general demographic questions, child food behaviour questions and questions about their feeding practices. Finally nursery staff will be requested to provide feedback to evaluate intervention feasibility, barriers and efficacy.

It is predicted that children's intake of the unfamiliar vegetable will vary by intervention. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that children who receive the repeated taste exposures are more likely to increase their intake of the unfamiliar vegetable compared to those in educational only or control conditions. The second hypothesis is that repeated taste exposures will increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in fussy eaters more than education.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 140
• Est. completion date: August 2017
• Est. primary completion date: December 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 2 Years to 5 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 2 to 5 years old

• Attends nursery on selected test day

Exclusion Criteria:

• Relevant food allergy (mooli / radish)

• Medical condition which would prevent them from eating the test vegetable

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Behavior
• Food Habits
• Food Preferences
• Health Behavior

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Taste exposure
Exposure to the same vegetable
• Nutritional education
Eat Well and Strive for Five nutritional education

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United Kingdom	School of Psychology, University of Leeds	Leeds	West Yorkshire

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Leeds	Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom, Purely Nutrition Ltd

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United Kingdom, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Intake of an unfamiliar vegetable	Outcome measured at pre intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 12) and at follow-ups 3 (week 24) and 6 months (week 36) later. Intake of unfamiliar vegetable will be measured individually and objectively using weight in grams.	Week 0 (Pre Intervention Intake), Week 12 (Post Intake), Week 24 (Follow up 1), Week 36 (Follow up 2)
Secondary	Intake of usual vegetables	Outcome measured at pre intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 12) and at follow-up 3 months later (week 24). Intake of usual vegetable will be measured using a Food Frequency Questionnaire.	Week 0 (Pre Intervention Intake), Week 12 (Post Intake), Week 24 (Follow up 1)