Dataset Information

An online-based intervention to promote healthy eating through self-regulation among children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite the enormous investment governments allocate to fight obesity, its worldwide prevalence is still on the rise. Moreover, the majority of the programs implemented are still targeting adults struggling with overweightness and focusing on transmitting knowledge about food. However, research shows that obesity prevention is more efficacious and cheaper, and beliefs about healthy eating have a stronger influence on eating behavior than declarative knowledge about food. In fact, knowledge about healthy eating only influences weight status when combined with self-regulation competences. Thus, the main goal of the current project is to develop and evaluate the efficacy of an online preventive intervention program, the HEP-S. This program is designed to promote and develop a set of transversal skills and strategies, related to self-regulation, on the healthy eating domain among school-aged children.

Methods

A three-armed randomized controlled trial will be conducted in several schools in Portugal. It will include a standard control group, with no intervention; an online intervention group, with the program for 20 weeks; and an enhanced online intervention group, with the program for 20 weeks embedded with gamification strategies throughout the program. Per research group, 40 groups of about 15 children each will be recruited and measured at five different time points. The three research groups will complete the same assessment protocol at the same timings (baseline, post-intervention, and 3, 6, and 9?months' follow-ups). The assessment protocol will include anthropometric and psychological measures. The primary outcome measures will be the development of self-regulation skills for healthy eating over time, the development of self-efficacy attitudes, knowledge about healthy eating over time, and others. The secondary outcome measures will include the effect of gamification strategies, engagement, and satisfaction with the program, among others. The program will comprise the following: (i) a weekly group synchronous videoconference session with a trained educational psychologist serving as a mediator and (ii) a weekly parental involvement activity. Narratives, or story-tools, embedded with self-regulation strategies are at the core of the intervention.

Discussion

The program may play an important role in preventing risky and unhealthy eating behaviors by focusing on the development of self-regulation skills and strategies among elementary school children.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04099498 . Registered on 23 September 2019.

SUBMITTER: Magalhaes P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7489213 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

An online-based intervention to promote healthy eating through self-regulation among children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Magalhães Paula P Silva Cátia C Pereira Beatriz B Figueiredo Gabriela G Guimarães Ana A Pereira Armanda A Rosário Pedro P

Trials 20200914 1

<h4>Background</h4>Despite the enormous investment governments allocate to fight obesity, its worldwide prevalence is still on the rise. Moreover, the majority of the programs implemented are still targeting adults struggling with overweightness and focusing on transmitting knowledge about food. However, research shows that obesity prevention is more efficacious and cheaper, and beliefs about healthy eating have a stronger influence on eating behavior than declarative knowledge about food. In fa ...[more]

PMID: 32928277

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionAdolescent eating patterns are characterised by high consumption of unhealthy foods, which has resulted in an increasing prevalence of overweight and chronic diseases. It is crucial to promote healthy eating habits, and nutritional interventions based on the transtheoretical model have been found to be especially effective. Mobile health strategies also seem promising for adolescents. This study aims to outline a smartphone intervention via WhatsApp for adolescents to promote healthy eating consumption, better nutritional knowledge, self-efficacy in the adoption of healthy practices and progress through the stages of change.Methods and analysisThere will be three distinct groups in this randomised study: a general intervention group (GG), in which the participants will receive the same healthy eating messages, based on the Brazilian food guide; a tailored intervention group (TG), in which the participants will receive healthy eating messages based on their stage of change; and a control group (CG), in which participants will receive messages on a different theme. Possession of a smartphone, use of WhatsApp and being a senior student (16-19 years) from a public school of the Federal District of Brazil will be the study's inclusion criteria. Rural schools will be excluded. The sample size estimated is 390 individuals: 38 in the GG, 314 in the TG and 38 in the CG. The intervention will last 6 weeks, with a daily message sent to the students. We will investigate nutritional knowledge, self-efficacy in the adoption of healthy eating practices, food consumption and stages of change using preintervention and postintervention questionnaires. Memorisation of the messages will be also assessed.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the University of Brasília, School of Health Sciences and Research Ethics Committee. At the end of the study, the participating schools will receive a printed report with the main results of the intervention.Trial registration numberRBR-5b9jk7.

Project description:BackgroundPrevention of childhood obesity is a key approach to the primary prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Several models, based on the population health approach and aligned with ecological models, are used to design childhood obesity prevention programs around the world.ObjectiveThis study aims to introduce the design and evaluation plan of "Iran Healthy Start (IHS)/Aghazi Salem, Koodake Irani"-the customized Iranian version of Canadian Healthy Start/Départ Santé health promotion program-which is now being developed in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Mashhad, Iran) and focuses on improving physical activity and healthy eating among preschool children.MethodsWe will evaluate the intervention using a pilot randomized controlled design. The components of intervention include customized Decoda Web-based resources for children, an implementation guide for educators and managers, training and monitoring, communication and knowledge exchange, building partnership, and parent engagement. Outcomes include changes in anthropometry, physical activity level, nutritional risk status and dietary intake, and quality of life.ResultsThe project is funded by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The intervention was completed by the end of March 2018, and the analysis is currently under way. The first results of the IHS intervention program are expected to be submitted for publication in December 2018.ConclusionsThe double burden of malnutrition in early years children is a major health concern in developing countries. This justifies the need for health promotion programs that are specifically designed to target both overnutrition and undernutrition prevention. If the efficacy approved, the IHS could potentially be a comprehensive health promotion program for young children whose lifestyle behaviors can be improved toward a healthy future life in a nutrition transition setting.Trial registrationInternational Clinical Trials Registry Platform IRCT2016041927475N1; https://en.irct.ir/trial/22497.International registered report identifier (irrid)RR1-10.2196/11329.

Project description:BackgroundeHealth and web-based service delivery have become increasingly common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital interventions may be highly appealing to young people; however, their effectiveness compared with that of the usual face-to-face interventions is unknown. As nutrition interventions merge with the digital world, there is a need to determine the best practices for digital interventions for children.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of digital nutrition interventions for children on dietary outcomes compared with status quo interventions (eg, conventional face-to-face programming or nondigital support).MethodsWe conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews of studies assessing primary research on digital interventions aimed at improving food and nutrition outcomes for children aged <18 years compared with conventional nutrition education were eligible for inclusion.ResultsIn total, 11 systematic reviews published since 2015 were included (7/11, 64%, were of moderate quality). Digital interventions ranged from internet, computer, or mobile interventions to websites, programs, apps, email, videos, CD-ROMs, games, telehealth, SMS text messages, and social media, or a combination thereof. The dose and duration of the interventions varied widely (single to multiple exposures; 1-60 minutes). Many studies have been informed by theory or used behavior change techniques (eg, feedback, goal-setting, and tailoring). The effect of digital nutrition interventions for children on dietary outcomes is small and inconsistent. Digital interventions seemed to be the most promising for improving fruit and vegetable intake compared with other nutrition outcomes; however, reviews have found mixed results.ConclusionsOwing to the heterogeneity and duration of digital interventions, follow-up evaluations, comparison groups, and outcomes measured, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear. High-quality evidence with common definitions for digital intervention types evaluated with validated measures is needed to improve the state of evidence, to inform policy and program decisions for health promotion in children. Now is the time for critical, robust evaluation of the adopted digital interventions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to establish best practices for nutrition interventions for children.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Low adherence to dietary guidelines and a concurrent rise of obesity-related chronic diseases emphasize the need for effective interventions to promote healthy eating. There is growing recognition that behavior change interventions should draw on theories of behavior change. Online interventions grounded in theory lead to increased effectiveness for health behavior change; however, few theory-driven social media-based health promotion interventions have been described in the literature. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to describe the application of the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol to develop an evidence-informed blog to promote healthy eating among French-Canadian mothers of preschool and school-aged children. METHODS:The following six steps of the IM protocol were performed. In Step 1, a preliminary needs assessment included a literature search on theoretical domains predicting Vegetables and Fruits intakes and Milk and Alternatives intakes in adults (ie, knowledge, beliefs about capabilities, beliefs about consequences, intention/goals) and a qualitative study including focus groups to identify female Internet users' perceptions of their use of healthy eating blogs. In Step 2, two behavioral outcomes were selected (ie, increase daily intakes of Vegetables and Fruits and Milk and Alternatives of mothers to reach Canadian dietary recommendations) and subsequently divided into six performance objectives inspired by national and international dietary recommendations such as planning for healthy meals. A matrix of change objectives was then created by crossing performance objectives with theoretical domains predicting Vegetables and Fruits intakes and Milk and Alternatives intakes in adults. Step 3 consisted of selecting theory-based intervention methods (eg, modeling and goal setting) and translating them into practical applications for the context of a dietary intervention delivered through a blog. A 6-month intervention was developed in Step 4 in which we aimed to address one performance objective per month in weekly blog publications written by a registered dietitian. For Step 5, we sought to include engagement-promoting methods (eg, peer and counselor support) to promote mothers' use of the blog and adherence to the intervention. Finally in Step 6, a randomized controlled trial has been launched to evaluate the effects of the blog on dietary behaviors of French-Canadian mothers. RESULTS:The intervention study is expected to be completed in March 2018. CONCLUSIONS:An intervention mapping protocol allowed for effective decision making in the development of a novel knowledge translation tool to increase adherence to dietary recommendations among mothers of preschool and school-aged children.

Project description:BackgroundEarly childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep. Consequently, effective interventions to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and prevent obesity during early childhood are needed. Community playgroups provide an opportunity for parents, carers, and children to meet in a safe and relaxed environment to play and share information. The structure, low cost and reach of playgroups provide a unique platform to engage parents in a scalable program to promote healthful lifestyle behaviors and prevent childhood obesity. However, the evidence base for the effectiveness of health promotion programs delivered in community playgroup settings is limited and lacking credible evidence from rigorously conducted randomized controlled trials.MethodsThe Healthy Conversations @ Playgroup randomized controlled trial (RCT) aims to address the underlying behavioral risk factors for obesity by helping parents take effective steps to improve their child's dietary, PA, screen time, and sleep behaviors. The intervention program comprises 10 "healthy conversations" led by a trained peer facilitator, designed to increase parents' behavioral capability and self-efficacy to implement autonomy-supportive parenting practices. The program will be delivered biweekly during regularly scheduled playgroup sessions over 10-weeks. Effectiveness will be tested in a 2-arm cluster RCT involving 60 community playgroups in three states across Australia. After baseline assessments, participating playgroups will be randomly allocated to either intervention or wait-list control conditions. Primary outcomes (vegetable intake, discretionary foods, daily PA, screen time, sleep duration, and body mass index [BMI] z-score) will be assessed at baseline, immediately post-intervention (10-weeks; T2) and 6-months post-intervention (T3). Outcomes will be assessed for differential change at T2 and T3.DiscussionThe Healthy Conversations @ Playgroup trial will rigorously evaluate a novel peer-led intervention program to promote healthful lifestyle behaviors and prevent obesity in children and families attending community playgroups. If effective, the program could be immediately scaled-up and delivered in community playgroups across Australia.Trial registrationTrial registered 22nd January 2021 with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12621000055808 ).

Dataset Information

An online-based intervention to promote healthy eating through self-regulation among children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background

Methods

Discussion

Trial registration

Publications

An online-based intervention to promote healthy eating through self-regulation among children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets