Increasing Vegetable Intake in Children

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of an innovative approach to increase the amount of vegetable's (V) intake consumed by preschool children who are predominately African-American (AA) and Hispanic-American (HA).

Detailed Description
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The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of an innovative approach to increase the amount of vegetable's (V) intake consumed by preschool children who are predominately African-American (AA) and Hispanic-American (HA).The primary endpoint will be changes in V consumption in high school children with the hypothesis that a puppet intervention will increase their V consumption by preschool children. To achieve the project goal, our specific aims (SA) are to: SA1: Successfully recruit 6 preschool (PS) centers and 168 AA and 168 HA children 3 to 5 y enrolled there. SA2: Conduct individual interviews for formative assessment of the PUPPET shows. SA3: Develop the manual of operation and intervention protocols SA4: Develop 4 videotaped theatre-based PUPPET shows that are developmentally and cognitively appropriate for use with 3- to 5-year-old AA and HA children SA5: Pilot-test the feasibility of the PUPPET intervention with 3 intervention and 3 control HS centers. SA6: Use the data collected in Aim 5 to estimate parameters required to conduct a group randomized trial for an evaluation of the efficacy of the intervention. The primary hypothesis (H1) to be tested is that children who receive the PUPPET intervention will demonstrate increased V consumption in HS compared to children in the control group.

Official Title
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Increasing Vegetable Intake in Children

Conditions
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Obesity, Behavior, Food Habits

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Increase vegetable intake in pre-school children


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Healthy non-patient normals African-american Hispanic-american 3 to 5 y olds Exclusion Criteria: pregnant woman neonates dietary restrictions chronic disease developmental disabilities special education does not read or write in spanish or english

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 3 Years
Maximum Age: 5 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: AA - Increase vegetable intake<br>60 African-American (AA) preschool children will participate in the Intervention Group. 60 AA children will belong to the Control Group. 6-week Intervention: 120 AA and HA children will be shown the Puppet Shows and will be given a bag of ingredients to prepare the vegetable highlighted that week in the Puppet Show. The 6 week intervention includes a baseline assessment (1 week), followed by the intervention (4 weeks), and post assessment (1 week). The primary hypothesis to be tested is children who receive the PUPPET intervention with a parent/teacher component will demonstrate increase vegetable intake in pre-school children. | Behavioral: Increase vegetable intake in pre-school children<br>* 6-week Intervention: 120 AA and HA children will be shown the Puppet Shows and will be given a bag of ingredients to prepare the vegetable highlighted that week in the Puppet Show. The 6 week intervention includes a baseline assessment (1 week), followed by the intervention (4 weeks), and post assessment (1 week). The primary hypothesis to be tested is children who receive the PUPPET intervention with a parent/teacher component will demonstrate increase vegetable intake in pre-school children.<br>|
| Experimental: HA - Increase vegetable intake<br>60 Hispanic-American (HA) preschool children will participate in the Intervention Group. 60 HA children will belong to the Control Group. 6-week Intervention: 120 AA and HA children will be shown the Puppet Shows and will be given a bag of ingredients to prepare the vegetable highlighted that week in the Puppet Show. The 6 week intervention includes a baseline assessment (1 week), followed by the intervention (4 weeks), and post assessment (1 week). The primary hypothesis to be tested is children who receive the PUPPET intervention with a parent/teacher component will demonstrate increase vegetable intake in pre-school children. | Behavioral: Increase vegetable intake in pre-school children<br>* 6-week Intervention: 120 AA and HA children will be shown the Puppet Shows and will be given a bag of ingredients to prepare the vegetable highlighted that week in the Puppet Show. The 6 week intervention includes a baseline assessment (1 week), followed by the intervention (4 weeks), and post assessment (1 week). The primary hypothesis to be tested is children who receive the PUPPET intervention with a parent/teacher component will demonstrate increase vegetable intake in pre-school children.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vegetable Intake in Preschool Children | There will be 2 phases to program development: diagnostic and formative. The diagnostic phase will consist of 20 individual interviews with child-care providers and parents (½ AA, ½ HA) and 20 interviews with preschool children (½ AA, ½ HA).In addition the parents will be asked to complete the Cooking Confidence Questionnaire, the Barriers and Facilitators Questionnaire on Vegetables and a list of their child's favorite vegetables before coming to the interview. Implementation will include the showing of the 4 video-taped puppet shows to 10-12 children immediately prior to the lunch meal on 4 consecutive days. These children will be assessed at lunch using the digital diet estimation method. | 1 year 11 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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vegetables, Head Start, preschool, children, theater, puppet