Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Repeated exposure to a taste, along with sticker rewards for tasting, can increase children's acceptance of disliked foods but previous studies have been intensive and would be difficult and expensive to make widely available. This study aims to test if mailed materials giving parents instructions on taste exposure and rewards can effectively increase acceptance of vegetables in preschool-aged children.
Who can participate?
The study will recruit families with young twins from the Gemini cohort (www.geministudy.co.uk).
What does the study involve?
Families who elect to participate will be randomly allocated to an intervention group or a no-treatment control group. All families will be asked to select a vegetable both their twins dislike. Parents will be instructed to measure their children's intake (number of pieces) and liking of the target vegetable at test sessions before and after the intervention. The families in the intervention group will also receive an information pack and a link to an online video. Intervention group parents will offer each of their twins 14 daily tastes of a disliked vegetable and provide a sticker reward if they taste it. The control group families will receive the intervention materials only after completing the study.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The study may increase children's acceptance of previously rejected vegetables. No risks are expected.
Where is the study run from?
The study has been set up by the Health Behaviour Research Centre at University College London (UK).
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
Recruitment will start in early 2011 and the study will run for about 1 year.
Who is funding the study?
The recruitment of the Gemini cohort was funded by a grant from Cancer Research UK, and the design and production of the packs used in this study was funded by Weight Concern.
Who is the main contact?
Professor Jane Wardle
j.wardle@ucl.ac.uk
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Lucy Cooke
ORCID ID
Contact details
Health Behaviour Research Centre
1-19 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HB
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7679 1615
lucy.cooke@ucl.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
G0701864
Study information
Scientific title
The influence of rewards on children's vegetable acceptance: a home-based randomised controlled trial
Acronym
Study hypothesis
Both tangible and social rewards (when paired with repeated exposure) would increase the acceptance of a moderately disliked vegetable when compared with a no-treatment control condition
This is second of two studies on incentives in child feeding, the first of which was registered under ISRCTN42922680.
Ethics approval
UCL Research Ethics Committee, 27/11/2009, ref: 2174/001
Study design
Home-based randomised controlled trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Quality of life
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Children's nutrition
Intervention
All children will participate in pre-intervention, post-intervention and 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments
Children will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions:
1. Tangible reward: daily offer of target vegetable for 12 days with a sticker reward given for tasting
2. Social reward: daily offer of target vegetable for 12 days with specific praise given for tasting
3. Control: no tasting between assessment sessions
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Applicable
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
1. Children's liking of their target vegetable (3-point faces scale: 1 = 'Yucky', 2= 'OK', 3= 'Yummy')
2. Consumption of the target vegetable in grams
Both measures taken pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 1- and 3-month follow-up
Secondary outcome measures
1. Parental feeding practices
2. Child's food fussiness
3. Liking and frequency of consumption of a range of fruit and vegetables
Overall trial start date
04/01/2010
Overall trial end date
01/11/2011
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Children aged 3-4 years and their care giver
2. Care giver fluent in written and spoken English
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Child
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
165
Participant exclusion criteria
Signifcant learning difficulties or physical problems affecting feeding and eating
Recruitment start date
04/01/2010
Recruitment end date
01/11/2011
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Health Behaviour Research Centre
London
WC1E 7HB
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
University College London (UK)
Sponsor details
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
Health Behaviour Research Centre
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7679 2000
lucy.cooke@ucl.ac.uk
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
Research council
Funder name
Medical Research Council (MRC) - National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) (UK) (ref: G0701864)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2014 results in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24091061
Publication citations
-
Results
Fildes A, van Jaarsveld CH, Wardle J, Cooke L, Parent-administered exposure to increase children's vegetable acceptance: a randomized controlled trial., J Acad Nutr Diet, 2014, 114, 6, 881-888, doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.07.040.