Lunch is in the Bag: Helping Parents Increase Fruit, Vegetables, and Whole Grains in Preschool Sack Lunches
NCT ID: NCT01292434
Last Updated: 2020-11-10
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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COMPLETED
NA
1266 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2008-06-30
2013-05-31
Brief Summary
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The primary study hypothesis is that Lunch is in the Bag will increase fruit, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches. Additional hypotheses are that lunches at child care centers where the program is used will have higher dietary quality than centers without the program and that children at the centers where the program is used will have a smaller increase in body mass index than children at centers with the program.
The study will also look at the child's home environment and the childcare center. Hypotheses for this research question include
1. Children at centers with Lunch is in the Bag will have greater frequency of eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains at home than those at centers without the program.
2. Compared to parents at centers without the program, parents of children at centers with Lunch is in the Bag will have
1. Greater knowledge, expected benefits, support, intentions, and belief in their ability for packing fruit, vegetables, and whole grain in their child's sack lunch daily.
2. Availability of fruit, vegetable, and whole grain in the home pantry.
3. Number of lunches with temperature in the safe range at time of service.
Detailed Description
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The primary aim of this proposal is to determine if Lunch is in the Bag program improves the nutrient composition of sack lunches parents pack for children. The primary hypothesis for this aim:
\- At 6-week and 28-week follow-up periods, compared to children's lunches at the comparison centers, children's lunches in the intervention group will, on average, contain more servings of: a) fruit; b) vegetables; c) whole grains.
The secondary hypotheses for this aim:
1. At 6-week and 28-week follow-up periods, compared to children's lunches at the comparison centers, children's lunches at the intervention centers on average will have higher dietary quality relative to the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for energy, dietary fiber, carbohydrate, saturated fat, trans fat, vitamin A, calcium, iron, and zinc.
2. At 28-week follow-up periods, children at intervention centers will have smaller increase in BMI compared to children in comparison centers.
The secondary aim of this study is to examine effects of the intervention on psychosocial, behavioral, and environmental supports in the child's home environment. Hypotheses for this aim:
At 6-week and 28-week follow-up periods,
1. Compared to children at the comparison centers, children at the intervention centers on average will have greater frequency of eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods at home.
2. Compared to parents of children at the comparison centers, parents of children at the intervention centers on average will have greater
1. Behavioral capability/knowledge, perceived behavioral control/self-efficacy, expected benefits/attitudes, subjective norms/social support, and intentions for packing fruit, vegetable, and whole grain in the child's lunch sack daily.
2. Amount of parent-child cooperation in lunch packing decisions and behaviors.
3. Availability of fruit, vegetable, and whole grain in the home pantry.
4. Number of lunches with temperature in the safe range at time of service.
Additional aims include the evaluation of factors affecting implementation and adaption of the program.
Childcare centers (n=40) that require parents to send sack lunches from home will be randomized to intervention and control groups. Families (n=800) will be enrolled as parent-child dyads comprised of the primary lunch packer and one 3 to 5 year old child per family. Outcome measures will be assessed at (1) baseline, (2) immediately after the five-week intervention (6 weeks), (3) 3 months later immediately before a "booster" activity (23 weeks), and (4) 5 weeks after the booster (28 weeks). Mediation analyses will be guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), with particular attention to the reciprocal influences of the child's eating behavior and the parent's food packing behavior and perceptions of child food preferences. Qualitative and process data collection will be conducted throughout the intervention. Data from this study will enable us to determine the efficacy and feasibility of a parent-based intervention implemented through childcare centers to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in diets of preschool children. The ultimate goal for this work is the development of new strategies for the promotion of healthy eating practices in children through childcare centers, which will decrease their risk of cancer and other chronic diseases later in life.
Conditions
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Keywords
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
PREVENTION
NONE
Study Groups
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Lunch in the Bag Intervention
Lunch is in the Bag behavioral intervention: Parents receive a behavioral intervention that includes handouts/newsletters sent to parents from the early care and education (ECE) center, classroom activities and projects, an implementation support calendar, and teacher training.
Lunch is in the Bag behavioral intervention
Multi-component behavior-based activities, includes: parent handouts, teacher training, age-appropriate child classroom activities, parent/child activity stations
Control
Parents received no specific nutrition education intervention at the ECE center, other than usual practice.
No interventions assigned to this group
Interventions
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Lunch is in the Bag behavioral intervention
Multi-component behavior-based activities, includes: parent handouts, teacher training, age-appropriate child classroom activities, parent/child activity stations
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* The parent or guardian member of the dyad is the person primarily responsible for packing the child's lunch and is able to read English language materials written at the 6th grade level
* The child member of the dyad is age 3 to 5 and participates in daily care during a full day that includes the hours when children eat their lunch
Exclusion Criteria
3 Years
60 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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University of Texas at Austin
OTHER
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Deanna Hoelscher
Professor - School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus
Principal Investigators
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Deanna M Hoelscher, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Margaret E. Briley, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Texas at Austin
Cindy R. Roberts-Gray, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Third Coast Research & Development, Inc.
Locations
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University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus
Austin, Texas, United States
Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas, United States
Countries
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References
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Briley ME, Ranjit N, Hoelscher DM, Sweitzer SJ, Almansour F, Roberts-Gray C. Unbundling outcomes of a multilevel intervention to increase fruit, vegetables, and whole grains parents pack for their preschool children in sack lunches. Am J Health Educ. 2012 May;43(3):135-142. doi: 10.1080/19325037.2012.10599230. Epub 2012 May 1.
Sweitzer SJ, Ranjit N, Calloway EE, Hoelscher DM, Almansor F, Briley ME, Roberts-Gray CR. Examining How Adding a Booster to a Behavioral Nutrition Intervention Prompts Parents to Pack More Vegetables and Whole Gains in Their Preschool Children's Sack Lunches. Behav Med. 2016;42(1):9-17. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2014.935283. Epub 2014 Oct 10.
Sweitzer SJ, Byrd-Williams CE, Ranjit N, Romo-Palafox MJ, Briley ME, Roberts-Gray CR, Hoelscher DM. Development of a Method to Observe Preschoolers' Packed Lunches in Early Care and Education Centers. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Aug;115(8):1249-59. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.03.012. Epub 2015 May 12.
Sharma SV, Rashid T, Ranjit N, Byrd-Williams C, Chuang RJ, Roberts-Gray C, Briley M, Sweitzer S, Hoelscher DM. Effectiveness of the Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between the parent, child and child-care provider around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods: A group-randomized controlled trial. Prev Med. 2015 Dec;81:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.07.005. Epub 2015 Jul 17.
Romo-Palafox MJ, Ranjit N, Sweitzer SJ, Roberts-Gray C, Hoelscher DM, Byrd-Williams CE, Briley ME. Dietary Quality of Preschoolers' Sack Lunches as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Nov;115(11):1779-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.05.017. Epub 2015 Jul 17.
Roberts-Gray C, Briley ME, Ranjit N, Byrd-Williams CE, Sweitzer SJ, Sharma SV, Palafox MR, Hoelscher DM. Efficacy of the Lunch is in the Bag intervention to increase parents' packing of healthy bag lunches for young children: a cluster-randomized trial in early care and education centers. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2016 Jan 8;13:3. doi: 10.1186/s12966-015-0326-x.
Romo-Palafox MJ, Ranjit N, Sweitzer SJ, Roberts-Gray C, Byrd-Williams CE, Briley ME, Hoelscher DM. Adequacy of Parent-Packed Lunches and Preschooler's Consumption Compared to Dietary Reference Intake Recommendations. J Am Coll Nutr. 2017 Mar-Apr;36(3):169-176. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2016.1240634. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
Roberts-Gray C, Sweitzer SJ, Ranjit N, Potratz C, Rood M, Romo-Palafox MJ, Byrd-Williams CE, Briley ME, Hoelscher DM. Structuring Process Evaluation to Forecast Use and Sustainability of an Intervention: Theory and Data From the Efficacy Trial for Lunch Is in the Bag. Health Educ Behav. 2017 Aug;44(4):559-569. doi: 10.1177/1090198116676470. Epub 2016 Nov 17.
Related Links
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Other Identifiers
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LitB-UT-01
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id