Promoting Vegetable Intake in Preschool Aged Children

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The aim of this cluster randomised control trial is to test the efficacy of a repeated taste exposure intervention, a nutritional educational intervention and combination of both to increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in preschool aged children (aged 3-5 years).

Detailed Description
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The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of a repeated taste exposure intervention, a nutritional educational intervention and combination of both to increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in preschool aged children (aged 3-5 years). In particular the study will assess whether these strategies are effective to encourage intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in children who are fussy eaters or going through the food neophobia phase. The effectiveness of these interventions will also be observed overtime at 3 and 6 months post intervention. Nurseries will be randomised into one of four conditions over the 12 week intervention period; these include educational intervention only, taste exposures only, taste exposures and educational intervention or no intervention (control group). All children will be offered an unfamiliar vegetable prior to the intervention and after the intervention to evaluate changes in intake of the unfamiliar vegetable. The repeated taste exposure groups will be offered the novel vegetable repeatedly (1 exposure per week) over the 12 week period. For the educational intervention nursery staff will be advised to deliver two components of an existing PhunkyFoods educational programme over the same period. Parents will be asked some general demographic questions, child food behaviour questions and questions about their feeding practices. Finally nursery staff will be requested to provide feedback to evaluate intervention feasibility, barriers and efficacy. It is predicted that children's intake of the unfamiliar vegetable will vary by intervention. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that children who receive the repeated taste exposures are more likely to increase their intake of the unfamiliar vegetable compared to those in educational only or control conditions. The second hypothesis is that repeated taste exposures will increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable in fussy eaters more than education.

Official Title
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A Randomised Control Trial of an Educational and Taste-exposure Intervention to Promote Vegetable Intake in Preschool Aged Children

Conditions
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Food Habits, Food Preferences, Behavior, Health Behavior

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Taste exposure
* Behavioral: Nutritional education


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 2 to 5 years old Attends nursery on selected test day Exclusion Criteria: Relevant food allergy (mooli / radish) Medical condition which would prevent them from eating the test vegetable

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 2 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: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Taste Exposure<br>Children will be repeatedly offered the single vegetable which is unfamiliar to them over the 12 week period. Children will be in their natural setting at nursery and will be offered 40g of the vegetable by their usual nursery staff. The vegetable will be weighed before and after using a digital scale by the researcher. | Behavioral: Taste exposure<br>* Exposure to the same vegetable<br>|
| Experimental: Nutritional Education<br>Nursery staff will be trained by the PhunkyFoods team to deliver the nutritional education programme. Children will be taught Eat Well (learning about different food groups) and Strive for Five (learning about eating fruits and vegetables) components of the PhunkyFoods education programme by their usual nursery staff. Nurseries will be advised to deliver as much as possible of the two components over the 12 week period. | Behavioral: Nutritional education<br>* Eat Well and Strive for Five nutritional education<br>|
| Experimental: Taste Exposure and Nutritional Education<br>Children will be repeatedly offered a single unfamiliar vegetable over the 12 week period as well as receive the PhunkyFoods educational programme (Eat Well and Strive for Five components). Children will be in their natural setting at nursery and will be offered the vegetable and nutritional education by their usual nursery staff. | Behavioral: Taste exposure<br>* Exposure to the same vegetable<br>Behavioral: Nutritional education<br>* Eat Well and Strive for Five nutritional education<br>|
| No Intervention: Control<br>Children will be offered single unfamiliar vegetable at the beginning, end and at the follow-up. There will be no repeated taste exposure or education during the study phase or follow-up; they will be offered the nutritional education after the study has completed. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intake of an unfamiliar vegetable | Outcome measured at pre intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 12) and at follow-ups 3 (week 24) and 6 months (week 36) later. Intake of unfamiliar vegetable will be measured individually and objectively using weight in grams. | Week 0 (Pre Intervention Intake), Week 12 (Post Intake), Week 24 (Follow up 1), Week 36 (Follow up 2) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intake of usual vegetables | Outcome measured at pre intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 12) and at follow-up 3 months later (week 24). Intake of usual vegetable will be measured using a Food Frequency Questionnaire. | Week 0 (Pre Intervention Intake), Week 12 (Post Intake), Week 24 (Follow up 1) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Vegetable intake, Taste exposures, Educational intervention, Preschool children, Healthy eating intervention