Snack It Up for Parents: Interventions to Improve Children's Snacks

Tufts University17 enrolled

Overview

Influencing children's snacking habits has the potential to reap long-term rewards, yet few studies have focused on helping parents to provide healthier snacks for their children. The study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of parent interventions to improve snacks for children ages 8-12.

Objective. Influencing children's snacking habits has the potential to reap long-term rewards, yet few studies have focused on helping parents to provide healthier snacks for their children. The study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of parent interventions to improve snacks for children ages 8-12. Methods. Parents of children enrolled in an out-of-school-time soccer program in a low-income school district (n 16) were recruited. A comparison of 3 randomly-assigned interventions was conducted: 4 parents received grocery store gift cards (Incentive); 7 received nutrition education videos with tip sheets (Education); and 5 received both (Combined). The interventions were assessed qualitatively by interviewing parents and quantitatively to determine motivation (psychosocial survey) and children's snack quality (web-based 24-hour recall).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Snacking

Interventions

IncentiveBEHAVIORAL

$5 grocery gift card

EducationBEHAVIORAL

Video-based brief nutrition education

CombinedBEHAVIORAL

Both Incentive and Education interventions received

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * 18 year and older * Must have a child enrolled in one of three designated soccer sites of the study and must agree to let their child take the online 24 hour recall (ASA24) * Must have a child 7 years or older participating on a soccer team * Must frequently buy groceries from Stop \& Shop (only if recruited for a study arms that involves grocery coupons) * Must be literate in English or Spanish. Exclusion Criteria: * Failure to provide informed consent

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

snack quality by on-line 24-hour dietary recall (ASA24)

grams of sugar, fruits and vegetables as snacks

Time frame: 6 weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Intrinsic motivation by adapted Intrinsic Motivation Inventory

Parent intrinsic motivation for providing fruit and vegetable snacks; questions adapted from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (McAuley, E., Duncan, T., \& Tammen, V. (1989). Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: A confirmatory factor analysis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 60(1), 48-58).

Time frame: 6 weeks

Decisional balance by the Mainvil Decisional Balance Scale

Parent pros and cons for providing fruit and vegetable snacks to children; questions adapted from Mainvil decisional balance scale (Mainvil, L. A., Lawson, R., Horwath, C. C., McKenzie, J. E., \& Hart, I. (2010). Validated scales to assess adult decisional balance to eat more fruits and vegetables. Appetite, 55(3), 454-465. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.08.007)

Time frame: 6 weeks

Self-efficacy by questions adapted NCI Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey

Parent self-efficacy for providing fruit and vegetable snacks; questions adapted from the self-efficacy questions in the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey (Erinosho, T. O., Pinard, C. A., Nebeling, L. C., Moser, R. P., Shaikh, A. R., Resnicow, K., . . . Yaroch, A. L. (2015). Development and implementation of the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey to assess correlates of fruit and vegetable intake in adults. PLoS One, 10(2), e0115017. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115017)

Time frame: 6 weeks

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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