Promoting Self-Regulation Skills and Healthy Eating Habits in Early Head Start

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a new curriculum on toddlers' self-regulation skills and healthy eating habits. The curriculum is being delivered as part of Early Head Start home visits and compared to the effectiveness of usual practice Early Head Start home visits.

Official Title
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Promoting Self-Regulation Skills and Healthy Eating Habits in Early Head Start

Conditions
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Poverty

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Recipe 4 Success
* Behavioral: Usual practice Early Head Start


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Children must be receiving Early Head Start home visits and be at least 2 years old at the beginning of the study. Exclusion Criteria: -

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 2 Years
Maximum Age: 3 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

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
Interventional Model Description: Families are blocked within home visitor caseload and randomly assigned to receive the new curriculum or usual practice Early Head Start home visits for 12 weeks.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Recipe 4 Success<br>For 12 weeks, home visitors will stop delivering the usual practice Early Head Start home visits and deliver the Recipe 4 Success curriculum instead. At the end of 12 weeks, home visitors will resume usual practice Early Head Start home visits. | Behavioral: Recipe 4 Success<br>* Home visitors teach parents about children's self-regulation skills and healthy eating habits. The home visitors then teach parents how to sensitively scaffold the development of their toddlers' self-regulation skills in the context of cooking and snack preparation lessons. Prior research shows that self-regulation skills in early childhood predict long-term health indicators, such as BMI. Prior research also shows that children who are involved in the preparation of healthier foods are more likely to eat them.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Usual practice Early Head Start<br>Home visitors will continue to deliver usual practice Early Head Start home visits that follow a standard curriculum and are tailored on an ongoing basis to meet individual family needs. | Behavioral: Usual practice Early Head Start<br>* Home visitors will continue to deliver usual practice Early Head Start home visits that follow a standard curriculum and are tailored on an ongoing basis to meet individual family needs.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in children's healthy eating habits: Body mass index | Healthy eating habits will be assessed through change in body mass index | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in children's healthy eating habits: Food diaries | Healthy eating habits will be assessed through change in consumption of fruits/vegetables and junk food, as assessed with 24-hour food diaries | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in children's healthy eating habits: Parent reports | Healthy eating habits will be assessed through parent survey of pickiness, etc.; mean scores reported from 5-point Likert scales with higher scores indicating healthier eating habits | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in children's self-control skills: Direct testing | Children's self-control skills will be assessed through direct testing (e.g., snack delay task) | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in children's self-control skills: Video interactions | Children's self-control skills will be assessed through parent-child interactions, rated on Likert scale from video recordings; mean score reported between 1 = almost never and 5 = almost always | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in children's self-control skills: Parent ratings | Children's self-control skills will be assessed through parent ratings on standardized behavior checklists; mean scores reported from 3- or 5-point Likert scales with higher scores indicating greater self-control | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in parents' sensitive/responsiveness: Video interactions | Parents' sensitive/responsiveness will be assessed through parent-child interactions, rated on Likert scale from video recordings; mean score reported between 1 = almost never and 5 = almost always | Baseline / up to 18 months | 
| Change in parents' sensitive/responsiveness: Parent ratings | Parents' sensitive/responsiveness will be assessed through parent ratings on standardized surveys; mean scores reported from 5-point Likert scales with higher scores indicating greater sensitive/responsiveness | Baseline / up to 18 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in children's sleep habits: Parent reports | Sleep habits will be assessed through parent survey; mean scores reported from 5-point Likert scales with higher scores indicating better sleep habits | Baseline / up to 18 months |