Clinical trial NCT04075552: Healthy Eating ASD
Official title: Improving Healthy Eating of Children With Autism in a School Setting
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Food Selectivity
Lead sponsor: Penn State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-08-30
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 14
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: Single subject research methodology
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Most studies which have addressed food selectivity among children with autism spectrum disorders have been conducted in either clinic or home settings. School-based research has been conducted to increase healthy eating, but this research was largely conducted with children without special needs or if children with special needs did participate, they were not identified.

This study will focus on increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables among children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in a school setting.

Detailed description: Food Preference Inventory: A survey of food preference and eating habits, developed by the experimenter, will be provided to the parents/guardians of prospective participants. The Food Preference Inventory is anticipated to take between 10 and 20 mins to complete. The parent/guardian of the prospective participant is asked to return toe inventory to the school if 1) the parent/guardian gives permission for his/her child to participate and 2) if the child does not have a food allergy.

General Procedures: Each day of the study (1-5 days per week), school staff will offer participants a small portion of a fruit or vegetable (about 1/8 cup) to eat during lunch time. The participant will have about 5 min to consume the item before it is recollected by school staff.

Baseline: The fruit or vegetable is presented with the participants lunch. Eating the item produces no programmed consequences.

Single Item Presentation: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). Eating the item produces no programmed consequences.

Single Item Presentation + Modeling: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). School staff will model eating the food item.

Single Item Presentation + Token Economy: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). Eating the item will produce a token (e.g., a sticker or hole punch). Once the student collects a few tokens (e.g., 3-5), he/she can exchange the tokens for a small price (e.g., pencil or crayon).

Data Collection: Data will be collected by school staff. Staff will record whether each participant consume the fruit or vegetable item.

Safety Procedures: School staff will monitor lunch - as they typically do.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants will be students in a private school with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder and between 6-14 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Parents who report their children have food allergies of any kind will be excluded.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Increased consumption of healthy foods
timeFrame: Through study completion, 1 year.
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Fleetwood
country: United States
facility: Hogan Learning Academy
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
References: