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 |
| Protocol serial number | N/A |
| Sponsor | University of Agder |
| Funders | Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening, University of Agder |
- 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
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
Scientific
University of Agder
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences
PO Box 422
Kristiansand
4604
Norway
| Phone | +47 (0)38 14 13 24 |
|---|---|
| nina.c.overby@uia.no |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Single-center interventional cluster randomised trial |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | A cluster randomized web-based intervention trial among one-year-old-children in kindergarten to reduce food neophobia and promote healthy diets |
| Study objectives | A 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) studied | Dietary habits, food neophobia, cognitive development, child obesity and parental and kindergarten personal feeding practices |
| Intervention | The 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 type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
1. Child vegetable intake, assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages 36 and 48 months |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Child cognitive development, assessed with the questionnaire Ages and Stages at baseline, after the intervention, and at the ages of 36 and 48 months |
| Completion date | 01/08/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Mixed |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 210 |
| Total final enrolment | 267 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Current 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 criteria | Children whose parents do not understand written Norwegian language |
| Date of first enrolment | 15/08/2017 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/11/2017 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Norway
Study participating centre
Kristiansand
4604
Norway
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| IPD sharing plan | The 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? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 08/10/2021 | 13/10/2021 | Yes | No |
| 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 |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
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.
