The Online Advocate: Health Related Social Problems And Diet Quality Pilot Study

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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In this study, the investigators will be using The Online Advocate, a Web-based health-related social problems screening and referral tool, to explore the relationship between health-related social problems and children's diet quality among families with young children attending the Children's Hospital Primary Care Center. The Online Advocate consists of a 60-80 question screening survey for health-related social problems (such as food insecurity, employment and income, homelessness) and allows participants to select referrals for local health and social service agencies that might help them with the problems identified through the survey. Layered into The Online Advocate for this study is an adaptation of the Harvard Service Food Frequency Questionnaire (HSFFQ) that can assess children's diet quality. The investigators plan to recruit 350 parent/guardians of otherwise healthy children age 3-10 years who are presenting to the primary care center for routine well child care. Eligible parent/guardians will have the opportunity to take The Online Advocate (plus HSFFQ) on a laptop computer in the waiting area before seeing their pediatrician or healthcare provider. Participants will receive a small incentive for their time as well as written information on healthy nutrition and an age appropriate coloring book for the child. At one month, participants will be contacted by the study team by email or phone and asked follow up questions about the status of their health-related social problems identified through The Online Advocate and whether the referrals they received were helpful. Participants will receive a small incentive for their time, along with a reminder message promoting healthy nutrition for their child. At three months, participants will be contacted by the study team by email or phone and asked follow up questions about the status of their health-related social problems identified through The Online Advocate and whether the referrals they received were helpful. They will also re-take the adapted HSFFQ. Participants will receive another small incentive for their time. Participants will also have the opportunity to re-take The Online Advocate at three months, though this is optional. The investigators believe this pilot study will provide foundational knowledge about the intersection between health-related social problems and children's diet quality and may inform future research studies and interventions. Our Study Aims are: To use The Online Advocate to evaluate the association between health-related social problems and diet quality in children in a cross-sectional sample. To evaluate the relationship between resolution of health-related social problems using The Online Advocate and change in diet quality in children over a 3 month period. Our Study Hypotheses are: A greater number of health-related social problems per family will be associated with poorer diet quality in children at baseline. After 3 months, families demonstrating resolution of one or more health-related social problems addressed with The Online Advocate will demonstrate greater improvement in diet quality in children.

Official Title
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The Online Advocate: Health Related Social Problems And Diet Quality Pilot Study

Conditions
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Children's Diet Quality, Health-related Social Problems

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: The Online Advocate
* Other: The Online Advocate


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Child age 3 to 10 years Child lives with parent/guardian at least 5 days per week Parent/guardian must be able to speak and read in English Exclusion Criteria: Child with major, active chronic medical illness (e.g., cancer) or use of prescription medication (e.g., oral steroids) that might influence diet quality Prior use of The Online Advocate Prior study participation Child is first degree relative (e.g., sibling) of current or prior study participant or a family member with lesser degree of relatedness or non-relative who lives in the same household as a current or prior study participant

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: Screening
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: The Online Advocate<br> | Other: The Online Advocate<br>* The Online Advocate is a Web-based social problems screening and referral tool developed at Children's Hospital.<br>Other: The Online Advocate<br>* The Online Advocate is a Web-based screening and referral tool for health-related social problems<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Diet quality | Diet quality will be assessed using the HEI-2005, Healthy Eating Index, applied to the nutritional data collected using the HSFFQ survey. HEI-2005 provides an overall score (scale 0 to 100) and was developed by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion to assess compliance with dietary guidelines. | 3 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Physical activity | Physical activity will be assessed using the NHANES survey. | 3 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Children's diet quality, Health-related social problems