Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Lucy Cooke
ORCID ID
Contact details
Health Behaviour Research Centre
University College London (UCL)
Brook House
2-16 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HN
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7679 0976
lucy.cooke@ucl.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
MRC ref: G0701864
Study information
Scientific title
The influence of incentives on children's consumption of vegetables: a randomised controlled multi-centre trial
Acronym
Study hypothesis
1. In children, are verbal rewards more effective than tangible rewards for increasing consumption of a target food, and for persistent changes in liking?
2. To what extent are the known benefits of mere exposure dependent on verbal rewards?
Ethics approval
University College London (UCL) Research Ethics Committee, approved on 28/11/2008 (ref: 1715/001)
Study design
Randomised controlled multi-centre trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Other
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
Classes will be randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. All children will participate in a pre-intervention taste test at which a target vegetable will be identified for each child.
Four conditions are:
Control: The children will not be required to taste their target vegetable during the training stage, with no testing taking place between pre and post tests.
No reward (exposure) condition: The children will be asked to taste their target vegetable once daily for 13 school days. These tasting sessions will not be rewarded.
Immediate tangible reward condition: The children will be asked to taste their target vegetable once daily for 13 school days. This group will immediately receive a tangible reward (one sticker of their choice) for tasting their target vegetable.
Immediate verbal reward condition: The children will be asked to taste their target vegetable once daily for 13 school days. This group will immediately be praised for tasting their target vegetable.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Applicable
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
The following will be assessed at a post-intervention taste test and 1 and 3 months post-intervention:
1. Children's liking (faces scale: "Yucky" = 1, "OK" = 2, "Yummy" = 3)
2. Ranking: Forced choice ranking of target vegetable from 1 (most liked) to 6 (least liked)
3. Consumption (g) of a target vegetable
Secondary outcome measures
Liking and frequency of consumption of a range of vegetables as reported by a parent using food frequency and food preference questionnaires at baseline and both follow-ups (1 month and 3 months post-intervention).
Overall trial start date
01/11/2008
Overall trial end date
15/09/2009
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Children (both males and females) in Reception and Year 1 classes in primary schools
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Child
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
448
Participant exclusion criteria
Significant learning difficulties or insufficient command on English language to participate in tasting sessions.
Recruitment start date
01/11/2008
Recruitment end date
15/09/2009
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Health Behaviour Research Centre
London
WC1E 7HN
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Medical Research Council (MRC) - National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) (UK)
Sponsor details
20 Park Crescent
London
W1B 1AL
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7670 5485
marlie.ferenczi@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
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
1. 2012 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22158728
Publication citations
-
Results
Remington A, Añez E, Croker H, Wardle J, Cooke L, Increasing food acceptance in the home setting: a randomized controlled trial of parent-administered taste exposure with incentives., Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 2012, 95, 1, 72-77, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.024596.