Clinical trial NCT03338257: Husky Reads Effectiveness in Increasing Produce Preference and Food Group Identification in Preschool Children
Official title: Husky Reads Evaluation: Measuring Changes in Fruit and Vegetable Recognition and Liking
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Childhood Obesity
Keywords: Pre-school children
fruit and vegetable acceptance
service-learning
pre-school nutrition education
childhood obesity
Lead sponsor: UConn Health
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-11-09
Enrollment: 400
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 35
Maximum age (years): 71
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The evaluation follows a pre-test/post-test control group design with children nested within classrooms at center and school-based early care programs located in low-income communities or areas with high SNAP eligibility rates
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Since 1998, UCONN undergraduate students have volunteered as part of a service- learning course to deliver a program called Husky Reads. Inspired by the nationally accepted American Academy of Pediatrics' program "Reach Out and Read," Husky Reads was first designed for promotion of health, nutrition habits and literacy by reading health-oriented books to young children in pediatric and health clinics. The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis. This series targets children at an early age because early childhood is a pivotal time to influence the path towards healthy behaviors and away from obesity. The effectiveness of the Husky Reads curriculum on a preschool age child's correct identification and liking of fruits and vegetables has not been established. The proposed evaluation uses a pre-test/post- test control group design with paired data at the child level to explore whether children who participate in Husky Reads have increased odds of correctly identifying the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "MyPlate" program (MyPlate) and food group concepts and trying or liking select fruits and vegetables.

Detailed description: Since 1998, University of Connecticut (UCONN) undergraduate students have volunteered as part of a service- learning course to deliver a program called Husky Reads. Inspired by the nationally accepted American Academy of Pediatrics' program "Reach Out and Read," Husky Reads was first designed for promotion of health, nutrition habits and literacy by reading health-oriented books to young children in pediatric and health clinics. The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children's book, an activity or game, and food tasting to complement learning objectives related to MyPlate and fruit/vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis. This series targets children at an early age because early childhood is a pivotal time to influence the path towards healthy behaviors and away from obesity. Providing food tastings and increasing exposure to foods like fruits and vegetables is especially relevant because food preferences are developed in early childhood. Early childhood is also an important time for introducing healthy behaviors because once obesity is established in childhood; it often tracks through to adulthood and is difficult to reverse through interventions.

The effectiveness of the Husky Reads curriculum on a preschool age child's MyPlate knowledge and correct identification and liking of fruits and vegetables has not been established. A more comprehensive evaluation is needed to establish if the program is effective and contributes to quality improvement efforts. Findings from a prior evaluation suggest the ability of preschoolers to identify blueberries, strawberries, carrots and broccoli increased significantly after participation in one Husky Reads lesson. Although the findings were promising, the evaluation design lacked a control group and relied on a classroom wide assessment with hands raised as a response rather than measuring whether the ability to identify the produce items changed for a given child after participation in Husky Reads. Therefore, a more thorough evaluation of whether Husky Reads helps children learn to identify select fruits and vegetables is still needed. Questions also remain whether Husky Reads increases the odds of a child tasting and/or liking select fruits and vegetables as well as recognition of MyPlate and foods in different food groups. The proposed evaluation uses a pre-test/post- test control group design with paired data at the child level to explore whether children who participate in Husky Reads have increased odds of identifying MyPlate and food group concepts , and correctly identifying,trying or liking select fruits and vegetables.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* child attending center or school based early care with high family enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP)

Exclusion Criteria:

* child whose parent has signed the "opt out" portion of the notification form.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Identification of MyPlate
timeFrame: Three week post 10-week intervention
measure: Ability to place foods in MyPlate food groups
timeFrame: Three week post 10-week intervention
measure: Identification of specified fruits and vegetables
timeFrame: Three week post 10-week intervention
measure: Preference for specified fruits and vegetables
timeFrame: Three week post 10-week intervention
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Farmington
country: United States
facility: UConn Health
state: Connecticut
Study officials:
affiliation: UConn Health
name: Ann m Ferris, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: UConn Health
name: Erin Havens, MPH
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Carraway-Stage V, Spangler H, Borges M, Goodell LS. Evaluation of a pictorial method to assess liking of familiar fruits and vegetables among preschool children. Appetite. 2014 Apr;75:11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.12.011. Epub 2013 Dec 21.
citation: Larsen AL, Liao Y, Alberts J, Huh J, Robertson T, Dunton GF. RE-AIM Analysis of a School-Based Nutrition Education Intervention in Kindergarteners. J Sch Health. 2017 Jan;87(1):36-46. doi: 10.1111/josh.12466.