Clinical trial NCT05173311: Pilot Study: The Effectiveness of a Mobile Application in Increasing Vegetable Acceptance
Official title: Pilot Study: The Effectiveness of a Mobile Application in Increasing Vegetable Acceptance
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy Nutrition
Eating Behavior
Keywords: Games for health
Mobile application
Smartphone application
Randomized trial
Lead sponsor: University of Helsinki
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Warsaw
name: University of Eastern Finland
name: Folkhälsan Research Center
name: Tampere University
name: EIT Food
First posted: 2021-12-29
Enrollment: 326
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 3
Maximum age (years): 6
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Mole's Veggie Adventures mobile application in increasing fruit and vegetable acceptance among 3-6-year-olds.

Detailed description: After the parents of the participating children had signed an informed consent and filled in the baseline questionnaires, the participating early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers (in Finland) or groups within the ECEC centers (in Poland) were randomly allocated into intervention and control arms. Researchers visited the intervention arm groups and introduced the application to the ECEC professionals. The ECEC professionals were instructed to use the application with a tablet computer at least one to two times a week during the intervention period (3-4 weeks) and to record the number of tasks completed by their group in a logbook. In addition, the research team recommended that each group focuses on at least six vegetables or fruits during the intervention period. The control arm groups were instructed to continue their normal routines during the intervention period and to refrain from introducing any novel food education methods during the intervention period.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* All children in the participating early childhood education and care (ECEC) groups

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Fruit and vegetable acceptance (post intervention)
timeFrame: The parents filled in the questionnaire after the intervention (4-5 weeks after the onset of the intervention).
measure: Relative fruit and vegetable acceptance (post intervention)
timeFrame: The parents filled in the questionnaire after the intervention (4-5 weeks after the onset of the intervention).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Emotionality (post intervention)
timeFrame: The parents filled in the questionnaire after the intervention (4-5 weeks after the onset of the intervention).
measure: Emotion regulation (post intervention)
timeFrame: The parents filled in the questionnaire after the intervention (4-5 weeks after the onset of the intervention).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Helsinki
country: Finland
facility: University of Helsinki
Study officials:
References:
citation: Vepsalainen H, Skaffari E, Wojtkowska K, Barlinska J, Kinnunen S, Makkonen R, Heikkila M, Lehtovirta M, Ray C, Suhonen E, Nevalainen J, Sajaniemi N, Erkkola M. A Mobile App to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Acceptance Among Finnish and Polish Preschoolers: Randomized Trial. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Jan 4;10(1):e30352. doi: 10.2196/30352.