Clinical trial NCT02215421: Mommio: Training in Vegetable Parenting
Official title: Kiddio Food Fight: Training Parents in Effective Vegetable Parenting
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Obesity
Keywords: vegetables
dietary intake
preschoolers
parents
video game
Lead sponsor: Archimage, Inc.
Sponsor class: INDUSTRY
Collaborators: name: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
First posted: 2014-08-13
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 45
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: 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: 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.

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Parent Reported Child Vegetable FFQ
timeFrame: One month from pre to post
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Vegetable Parenting Practices Questionnaire
timeFrame: One month from pre to post
Other outcomes:
measure: Qualitative Interviews
timeFrame: One month at post only
Locations:
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Baylor College of Medicine
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Archimage, Inc.
name: Richard Buday, FAIA
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Beltran A, O'Connor T, Hughes S, Baranowski J, Nicklas TA, Thompson D, Baranowski T. Alpha Test of a Videogame to Increase Children's Vegetable Consumption. Games Health J. 2012 Jun;1(3):219-222. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2011.0027.
citation: Baranowski T, O'Connor T, Hughes S, Beltran A, Baranowski J, Nicklas T, Sleddens E, Thompson D, Lu AS, Buday R. Smart phone video game simulation of parent-child interactions: Learning skills for effective vegetable parenting. In: Arnab S, Dunwell I, Debattista K (Eds). Serious Games for Healthcare: Applications and Implications. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2012, 248-265.