A web-based program to reduce food-related fears and promote healthy dietary habits in toddlers

ISRCTN ISRCTN98064772
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN98064772
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
18/05/2017
Registration date
23/05/2017
Last edited
13/10/2021
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

Background and study aims
A child’s first years of life are crucial for cognitive (mental) development and future health. Studies show that a varied diet with a high intake of vegetables is positive for weight development, mental health and cognitive development. A low intake of vegetables is considered one of the greatest challenges in children’s diets in Norway. Researchers suggest that one barrier for vegetable intake among children is food neophobia. Food neophobia is defined as a reluctance to taste and eat new foods. Food neophobia increases from the age of 2 years and decreases later in childhood. Interventions that can increase children’s intake of vegetables should be introduced early in life to overcome children’s neophobia. The aim of this study is to develop and measure the effect of two different interventions for one-year-old children in kindergartens to reduce food neophobia and promote healthy diets.

Who can participate?
Children born in 2016 attending kindergartens in the counties of Oppland, Telemark, Møre og Romsdal and Sør-Trøndelag in Norway

What does the study involve?
The participating kindergartens are randomly allocated to one of three groups: two different intervention groups and one control group. The first intervention group are served a warm lunch meal with a variety of vegetables on three days a week during the 3-month study period. The second intervention group are served the same meals and also give lessons and advice on meal and feeding practices. Questionnaires, information videos and recipes are included on a study web page. The control group continue their usual meal practices. To measure the effect of the interventions, parents and kindergarten staff complete questionnaires at the start of the study and after the intervention. Food neophobia, diet, food variety, vegetable liking, cognitive development, parent and kindergarten staff feeding practices, and child weight and height are all recorded. There are follow-up-questionnaires when the children are 36 and 48 months old.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The results of this study will provide new knowledge about whether or not education and a healthy meal intervention targeting children, kindergarten staff and parents will reduce levels of food neophobia in toddlers, improve parental and kindergarten feeding practices, improve children’s dietary variety, improve children’s cognitive development and reduce childhood obesity. Kindergartens in the intervention groups will increase their knowledge and competence when it comes to food and meal serving. There are no risks of participating in this study.

Where is the study run from?
University of Agder (Norway)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
August 2016 to August 2021

Who is funding the study?
1. Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening (Norway)
2. University of Agder (Norway)

Who is the main contact?
Prof. Nina Øverby
nina.c.overby@uia.no

Contact information

Prof Nina Cecilie Øverby
Scientific

University of Agder
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences
PO Box 422
Kristiansand
4604
Norway

Phone +47 (0)38 14 13 24
Email nina.c.overby@uia.no

Study information

Study designSingle-center interventional cluster randomised trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designCluster randomised trial
Study setting(s)School
Study typePrevention
Participant information sheet Participant information will be distributed by email and on the study webpage that will be password protected. Please use contact details to request the participant information sheets. The participant information sheets are only available in Norwegian.
Scientific titleA cluster randomized web-based intervention trial among one-year-old-children in kindergarten to reduce food neophobia and promote healthy diets
Study objectivesA web-based intervention that gives specific pedagogical tools and instructions to serve warm meals with a variety of vegetables aimed at one-year-old children, kindergarten personnel and parents will:
1. Reduce the children's level of food neophobia
2. Increase the children's vegetable intake
3. Improve the children's cognitive development
4. Prevent future obesity
There are two different intervention groups, and the trialists hypothesize that the group with both pedagogical tools and instructions to serve warm meals will be more effective regarding the hypotheses than the intervention group with only instructions are to serve warm meals with different vegetables.
Ethics approval(s)Norwegian centre for research data (NSD), 21/10/2016, ref: 49951
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedDietary habits, food neophobia, cognitive development, child obesity and parental and kindergarten personal feeding practices
InterventionThe kindergartens will be randomly, consecutively allocated to either one of the intervention groups or control group based on a computer-generated list:
1. Intervention group 1 will be asked to serve a warm lunch meal with a variety of vegetables three days a week during the intervention period which will last for 3 months
2. Intervention group 2 will be asked to use given pedagogical tools including sensory lessons (the Sapere method) and advice on meal practice and feeding styles, in addition to serving the same meals as intervention group 1
3. The third group will be the control group and continue their usual practices

All the information given to the intervention groups, i.e. information videos, recipes and other necessary information, will be found in a study web page.

To evaluate effect of the interventions on the given outcomes, parents and kindergarten personnel will fill in questionnaires at baseline and post intervention. Questionnaires will be distributed by e-mail. There will be follow-up-questionnaires when the children are 36 and 48 months old.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measure1. Child vegetable intake, assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages 36 and 48 months
2. Children's level of food neophobia, assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages of 36 and 48 months
3. Child dietary habits and food variety, assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages of 36 and 48 months
All primary outcomes are measured using detailed questionnaires developed for this specific study.
Secondary outcome measures1. Child cognitive development, assessed with the questionnaire Ages and Stages at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages of 36 and 48 months
2. Weight and height, assessed by self-report at baseline and at the ages of 36 and 48 months
3. Parental and kindergarten staff feeding practices and role modeling, assessed with the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages of 36 and 48 months
Overall study start date01/08/2016
Completion date01/08/2021

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Mixed
Age groupChild
SexBoth
Target number of participants210 children
Total final enrolment267
Key inclusion criteriaCurrent inclusion criteria as of 24/01/2020:
Children born in the year of 2016 attending kindergartens in the counties of Oppland, Telemark, Møre og Romsdal and Sør-Trøndelag in Norway

Previous inclusion criteria:
Children born in the year of 2016 attending kindergartens in the counties of Oppland and Telemark in Norway
Key exclusion criteriaChildren whose parents do not understand written Norwegian language
Date of first enrolment15/08/2017
Date of final enrolment01/11/2017

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Norway

Study participating centre

University of Agder
PO Box 422
Kristiansand
4604
Norway

Sponsor information

University of Agder
University/education

PO Box 422
Kristiansand
4604
Norway

Phone + 47 (0)38 14 10 00
Email post@uia.no
Website www.uia.no
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/03x297z98

Funders

Funder type

Charity

Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening
Private sector organisation / Associations and societies (private and public)
Alternative name(s)
Norwegian Women's Public Health Association, NKS
Location
Norway
University of Agder

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/09/2021
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryAvailable on request
Publication and dissemination plan1. Autumn 2017/winter 2018: study protocol
2. Autumn 2018, winter 2019 and spring 2019:
2.1. Effect of two different dietary interventions on child food neophobia, vegetable intake and food variety
2.2. Effect of two different dietary interventions on child cognitive development
2.3. Effect of two different dietary interventions on parental and child care personnel feeding practices
3. Autumn 2019: Evaluation and perceived cost -effectiveness of two healthy diet intervention to increase one-year-olds intake of vegetables and food variety and reduction in food neophobia. A qualitative study
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Prof. Nina Øverby (nina.c.overby@uia.no).

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Protocol article protocol 14/07/2018 10/05/2019 Yes No
Other publications baseline data on association between diet and neurodevelopmental score 21/07/2019 24/01/2020 Yes No
Other publications data on breastfeeding and food neophobia 14/02/2020 19/03/2020 Yes No
Other publications teachers' experiences 30/06/2021 05/07/2021 Yes No
Results article results 08/10/2021 13/10/2021 Yes No

Editorial Notes

13/10/2021: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The total final enrolment number has been added from the reference.
05/07/2021: Publication reference added.
19/03/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The intention to publish date was changed from 01/09/2019 to 01/09/2021.
24/01/2020: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The participant inclusion criteria have been changed and the plain English summary updated accordingly.
3. The Participant inclusion criteria: Target number of participants and Total target enrolment have been changed from 306 to 210.
10/05/2019: Publication reference added.