The goals of this multi-site clinical trial are to pilot test weekly SMS sent to parents/caregivers of infants to improve feeding practices and decrease excessive weight gain in infants who are participants of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. The intervention consists of weekly SMS for 4 months to reinforce the feeding messages provided by WIC.
The goals of this multi-site clinical trial are to pilot test weekly SMS sent to parents/caregivers of infants to improve feeding practices and decrease excessive weight gain in infants who are participants of the WIC program in two distinct locations, Puerto Rico and Hawaii; to assess acceptability and practicality of the intervention; and to assess acceptability of collecting blood spots in future studies. The investigators will recruit a convenience sample of parent/caregivers of infants 0-2 months participating in the WIC program in Puerto Rico and Hawaii to send weekly SMS for 4 months. The weekly messages will focus on reinforcing the breastfeeding messages provided by WIC, preventing overfeeding, delaying introduction of solid foods, and delaying and reducing baby juice consumption, which are key issues in low-income populations. Participants will complete validated questionnaires and anthropometry before and after the trial and results will be compared to the control group (no messages). Participants will also answer short questions by SMS at different points and an interview at the end of the trial to assess the SMS. The investigators will assess how many participants agree to collect blood spots in their infants in future studies.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
202
This is an intervention using short mobile messages (SMS)
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus (UPR-MSC)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Excessive weight gain
Infant weight-for-length percentile will be calculated using the World Health Organization growth charts, as recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for this age. Excessive weight will be categorized as ≥90th percentile
Time frame: 0-6 months
Acceptability of collecting blood spots
When recruiting participants, the investigators will ask if they agree to participate in collecting a blood spot sample in their infants. This will be done through a short questionnaire.
Time frame: 0-2 months
Acceptability of the intervention - from short SMS
At different points of the trial, participants will be asked to answer short quantitative and qualitative questions sent by SMS about acceptability of the intervention. All answers to these questions will be summed and assign as "acceptable" if answers were positive 80% or greater of the times.
Time frame: 0-6 months
Acceptability of the intervention - from exit interview
Participants will complete a short semi-structured qualitative interview at the end of the trial to provide the opportunity to make open comments about the acceptability of the SMS. Answers from the interviews will be loaded into a qualitative data analysis software. Recordings will be transcribed verbatim for content analysis and the team will develop a coding scheme. Similar codes will be grouped into broader concepts to facilitate the analysis. Analysis will involve identifying recurring themes based.
Time frame: 0-6 months
Practicality of the intervention - from short SMS
At different points of the trial, participants will be asked to answer short quantitative and qualitative questions sent by SMS about practicality of the intervention. Answers will be summed and classified as "practical" if answers were positive 80% or greater of the times.
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Time frame: 0-6 months
Practicality of the intervention - from exit interview
Participants will complete a short semi-structured qualitative interview at the end of the trial to provide the opportunity to make open comments about the practicality of the SMS. Answers from the interviews will be loaded into a qualitative data analysis software. Recordings will be transcribed verbatim for content analysis and the team will develop a coding scheme. Similar codes will be grouped into broader concepts to facilitate the analysis. Analysis will involve identifying recurring themes based.
Time frame: 0-6 months
Infant food frequency
This questionnaire includes 52 food items with a brief description on how these were prepared and/or their source (e.g., raw, canned, etc.). It also includes different portion sizes and information on supplements use. Using frequency of intake of each food and amount reported for each food, a total amount of each food per day will be calculated.
Time frame: 0-6 months
General infant feeding practices
This questionnaire includes questions about type of infant feeding (breast or bottle-feeding), type of milk used, age of stopping breastfeeding (exclusive and partial), age of introduction of juices and solid foods, use of the bottle to sleep baby, methods of feeding babies (i.e. using spoon, adding solids to bottle, etc).
Time frame: 0-6 months