Mommio: Training in Vegetable Parenting

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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A 20 episode video game called Mommio simulates parent-child feeding interactions for parents of 3-5 year old children within a storyline addressing a problem commonly reported by parents (getting their 3-5 yo to taste a vegetable, which is often a first step toward eating the vegetable), thereby training parents in effective food parenting practices. This research evaluates whether the 20 episodes targeting barriers identified by parents across five levels of difficulty influences vegetable parenting practices and children's dietary intake. We had to discontinue the study since changes in commercial availability of game development software required reprogramming and available funding did not allow for completion of game programming. Thus, no game evaluation was possible.

Detailed Description
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Video games for parents that simulate interactions with a child using a narrative, offering feedback on performance and goal setting for changing practices in the real world, and addressing vegetable (V) feeding problems commonly reported by parents, may elicit desirable cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. The rationale for training parents of preschool children in effective V parenting practices is that: 1) parents have an important influence on young children's dietary intake; 2) child dietary intake tracks into the adult years; and 3) high V consumption protects against several chronic diseases later in life. Since parents of young children commonly complain about not getting their child to eat V, there should be broad interest in playing Mommio. A pre-post randomized clinical trial with 110 parents of 3-5 year olds who report having difficulty getting their child to eat vegetables will be employed. The primary outcome will be parent report of children's dietary intake; the secondary outcome will be use of V parenting practices. We had to discontinue the study since changes in commercial availability of game development software required reprogramming and available funding did not allow for completion of game programming. Thus, no game evaluation was possible.

Official Title
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Kiddio Food Fight: Training Parents in Effective Vegetable Parenting

Conditions
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Obesity

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mommio


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: being a parent of a child 3-5 years old willing to complete all measures having an iPhone. Exclusion Criteria: the parent not speaking English (since the games are in English alone, due to budget constraints); having a 3-5 year old child with a medical condition that influences diet; or a parent with an illness that impairs the ability to complete questionnaires

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 45 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: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Play Mommio for 2 months<br>The objective is to build parent's skills in encouraging their child to eat vegetables. The player is asked to read a novella, Totally Frobisher (providing backstory to the game), and play a game called Mommio (a casual video game for parents of 3 to 5 year old children). The player calls Kiddio, the child character, to dinner, and offers a vegetable (V) (selected from among several). Kiddio refuses. The player is offered a selection of V parenting statements (from the scientific literature on food parenting) or manipulation of the environment (e.g. turning off the kitchen TV) to control the situation and encourage the child to eat the V. As problems arise (e.g. a permissive father saying he doesn't like vegetables), the player must select ways to cope. Players set a goal to do with their child at home what they learned in the game. Game episodes include food store shopping, eating in the car, at grandma's, and at a fast food store. | Behavioral: Mommio<br>* The objective is to build parent's skills in encouraging their child to eat vegetables. The player is asked to read a novella, Totally Frobisher (providing backstory to the game), and play a game called Mommio (a casual video game for parents of 3 to 5 year old children). The player calls Kiddio, the child character, to dinner, and offers a vegetable (V) (selected from among several). Kiddio refuses. The player is offered a selection of V parenting statements (from the scientific literature on food parenting) or manipulation of the environment (e.g. turning off the kitchen TV) to control the situation and encourage the child to eat the V. As problems arise (e.g. a permissive father saying he doesn't like vegetables), the player must select ways to cope. Players set a goal to do with their child at home what they learned in the game. Game episodes include food store shopping, eating in the car, at grandma's, and at a fast food store.<br>* Other names: Kiddia;|
| No Intervention: No game play<br>No intervention control. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Parent Reported Child Vegetable FFQ | To assess the preschool child's usual vegetable (V) intake, the participating parent will complete the V items from a 36 item FV screener which was demonstrated to have acceptable correlations with serum lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin, alphacarotene, and beta-carotene with a validity coefficient (r=0.35 with total carotenoids) comparable to the sum of three 24-hour dietary recalls. Parents have been shown to reliably and validly report preschool child diet intake. The response scales will be worded to reflect child's intake in the previous week. Item responses will be summed to estimate number of V servings consumed in the previous week. This questionnaire has been validated for parent report on children, and was sensitive to change. | One month from pre to post | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Vegetable Parenting Practices Questionnaire | Fruit and Vegetable Parenting Practices Questionnaire (FVPPQ), a parent-report questionnaire, includes 33 items associated with the effectiveness of parenting practices to get children to eat FV. Items will be scored on a three-point scale to indicate frequency of use of V parenting practices (1 - frequently, 2 - sometime, 3 - rarely-never). Internal consistency has been demonstrated. Helping HAND induced changes in these parenting practices. | One month from pre to post | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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dietary intake, preschoolers, parents, video game, vegetables