Snack It Up for Parents: Interventions to Improve Children's Snacks

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Influencing children's snacking habits has the potential to reap long-term rewards, yet few studies have focused on helping parents to provide healthier snacks for their children. The study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of parent interventions to improve snacks for children ages 8-12.

Detailed Description
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Objective. Influencing children's snacking habits has the potential to reap long-term rewards, yet few studies have focused on helping parents to provide healthier snacks for their children. The study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of parent interventions to improve snacks for children ages 8-12. Methods. Parents of children enrolled in an out-of-school-time soccer program in a low-income school district (n 16) were recruited. A comparison of 3 randomly-assigned interventions was conducted: 4 parents received grocery store gift cards (Incentive); 7 received nutrition education videos with tip sheets (Education); and 5 received both (Combined). The interventions were assessed qualitatively by interviewing parents and quantitatively to determine motivation (psychosocial survey) and children's snack quality (web-based 24-hour recall).

Official Title
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Snack It Up for Parents: Interventions to Improve Children's Snacks

Conditions
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Snacking

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Incentive
* Behavioral: Education
* Behavioral: Combined


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18 year and older Must have a child enrolled in one of three designated soccer sites of the study and must agree to let their child take the online 24 hour recall (ASA24) Must have a child 7 years or older participating on a soccer team Must frequently buy groceries from Stop & Shop (only if recruited for a study arms that involves grocery coupons) Must be literate in English or Spanish. Exclusion Criteria: Failure to provide informed consent

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 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: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Incentive<br>Each week parents received one $5 grocery store gift card per child in the household, intended for the purchase of healthy snacks, donated to the study by a partnering grocery store | Behavioral: Incentive<br>* $5 grocery gift card<br>|
| Experimental: Education<br>Parents received brief weekly nutrition education videos (approximately one minute in length, uploaded on YouTube and viewable on most operating systems and on mobile devices | Behavioral: Education<br>* Video-based brief nutrition education<br>|
| Experimental: Combined<br>Parents received both the Incentive and Education arm interventions | Behavioral: Combined<br>* Both Incentive and Education interventions received<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| snack quality by on-line 24-hour dietary recall (ASA24) | grams of sugar, fruits and vegetables as snacks | 6 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intrinsic motivation by adapted Intrinsic Motivation Inventory | Parent intrinsic motivation for providing fruit and vegetable snacks; questions adapted from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (McAuley, E., Duncan, T., & Tammen, V. (1989). Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: A confirmatory factor analysis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 60(1), 48-58). | 6 weeks | 
| Decisional balance by the Mainvil Decisional Balance Scale | Parent pros and cons for providing fruit and vegetable snacks to children; questions adapted from Mainvil decisional balance scale (Mainvil, L. A., Lawson, R., Horwath, C. C., McKenzie, J. E., & Hart, I. (2010). Validated scales to assess adult decisional balance to eat more fruits and vegetables. Appetite, 55(3), 454-465. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.08.007) | 6 weeks | 
| Self-efficacy by questions adapted NCI Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey | Parent self-efficacy for providing fruit and vegetable snacks; questions adapted from the self-efficacy questions in the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey (Erinosho, T. O., Pinard, C. A., Nebeling, L. C., Moser, R. P., Shaikh, A. R., Resnicow, K., . . . Yaroch, A. L. (2015). Development and implementation of the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey to assess correlates of fruit and vegetable intake in adults. PLoS One, 10(2), e0115017. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115017) | 6 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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child nutrition, nutrition education, parent intervention