Children's Taste Study to Increase Vegetable Intake in Preschoolers

NCT ID: NCT03043118

Last Updated: 2022-04-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 48 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-02-28
• Study Completion Date: 2016-11-02

Brief Summary

Studies have shown that when exposed to a variety of food and flavor options people tend to consume more than when only one item is presented. This strategy has been used to increase vegetable intake in adults and during snacktime in children. Increasing vegetable consumption in children is important because higher vegetable intake has been associated with reduced risk of disease and because vegetables can help prevent weight gain by lowering the energy density of a meal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using herb and spice blends to create flavor variety in carrots as a model vegetable in a laboratory test meal. We predict that children will consume more vegetables and that the energy density of the meal will be lower when a variety of seasoned carrots are presented in comparison to a single flavor. A secondary goal of the study was to determine other influences that may predict children's liking and intake of seasoned vegetables, such as previous exposure, infant feeding practices, and genetic bitter sensitivity.

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Variety

Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with a different herb and spice blend.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Variety Intervention

Intervention Type: OTHER

Vegetable flavor variety created with multiple herb and spice blends

No Variety - Control

Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with the same herb and spice blend.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Variety Intervention

Vegetable flavor variety created with multiple herb and spice blends

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Acceptance of test meal foods
• Generally healthy

Exclusion Criteria

• Food allergies
• Medications (prescription or OTC) that can affect taste, smell or appetite
• Medical conditions

• Minimum Eligible Age: 3 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Penn State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kathleen Loralee Keller

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Kathleen L Keller, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The Pennsylvania State University

Locations

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

ChildrensTasteStudy

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id