A longitudinal intervention to improve young children's liking and consumption of new foods: findings from the Colorado LEAP study.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Many interventions have been conducted to improve young children's liking and consumption of new foods however their impacts on children's consumption have been limited. Consistent evidence supports the use of repeated exposure to improve liking for new foods however longitudinal effects lasting greater than 6?months often have not been demonstrated. Here we report the eating-related findings of the Colorado Longitudinal Eating And Physical Activity (LEAP) Study, a multi-component intervention, delivered primarily in the school setting, which aimed to improve children's liking and consumption of a target food via repeated exposure and positive experiential learning. METHODS:Four sites in rural Colorado, each housing Head Start preschool programs, matched on state vital statistics for childhood obesity rates, (2 intervention and 2 control sites) took part in a quasi-experimental study design which included 4 time points (baseline, post-intervention, one-year [Y1] and two- year [Y2] follow ups). A total of 250 children and families were enrolled (n =?143 intervention and n =?107 control; 41% Hispanic and 69% low-income). A 12-week intervention, Food Friends - Fun With New Foods®, delivered by trained preschool teachers and which focuses on positive and repeated experiences with new foods, and a 5-month (1 unit/month) social marketing "booster program" was delivered in kindergarten (one-year follow up) and 1st grade (two-year follow up). Main outcome measures included change in children's liking for new foods, analyzed by ordinal regression using generalized estimating equations, and change in weighed consumption of new foods over time, analyzed using a hierarchical mixed effects model. RESULTS:The intervention was delivered with good fidelity (87%). Both intervention and control groups demonstrated an increase in liking for the target food over time (p =?0.0001). The pattern of consumption of the target food was different, over time, for intervention and control groups (p
SUBMITTER: Johnson SL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6547533 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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