The influence of incentives on children's consumption of vegetables

ISRCTN ISRCTN42922680
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN42922680
Secondary identifying numbers MRC ref: G0701864
Submission date
22/01/2009
Registration date
27/02/2009
Last edited
21/02/2012
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Dr Lucy Cooke
Scientific

Health Behaviour Research Centre
University College London (UCL)
Brook House
2-16 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HN
United Kingdom

Phone +44 (0)20 7679 0976
Email lucy.cooke@ucl.ac.uk

Study information

Study designRandomised controlled multi-centre trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Other
Study typeOther
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titleThe influence of incentives on children's consumption of vegetables: a randomised controlled multi-centre trial
Study objectives1. 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(s)University College London (UCL) Research Ethics Committee, approved on 28/11/2008 (ref: 1715/001)
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedChildren's nutrition
InterventionClasses 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 typeOther
Primary outcome measureThe 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 measuresLiking 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 study start date01/11/2008
Completion date15/09/2009

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupChild
SexBoth
Target number of participants448
Key inclusion criteriaChildren (both males and females) in Reception and Year 1 classes in primary schools
Key exclusion criteriaSignificant learning difficulties or insufficient command on English language to participate in tasting sessions.
Date of first enrolment01/11/2008
Date of final enrolment15/09/2009

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Health Behaviour Research Centre
London
WC1E 7HN
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Medical Research Council (MRC) - National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) (UK)
Government

20 Park Crescent
London
W1B 1AL
United Kingdom

Phone +44 (0)20 7670 5485
Email marlie.ferenczi@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Website http://www.mrc.ac.uk
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/03x94j517

Funders

Funder type

Government

Medical Research Council (MRC) - National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) (UK) (ref: G0701864)

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article results 01/01/2012 Yes No