Nurturing Needs Study: Parenting Food Motivated Children

NCT ID: NCT06111040

Last Updated: 2025-11-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 416 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-09-07
• Study Completion Date: 2027-10-31

Brief Summary

High food motivation among children is trait-like and increases risks of unhealthy dietary intake and obesity. Scientific knowledge of how parenting can best support healthy eating habits and growth among children who are predisposed to overeating is surprisingly limited. This investigation will identify supportive food parenting approaches for obesity prevention that address the needs of highly food motivated children.

Detailed Description

High levels of food motivation among young children are heritable, track over time, and associated with elevated risks of unhealthy eating and obesity. Despite significant growth of family-based obesity prevention efforts, the evidence base is remarkably scant on parenting highly food motivated children to prevent obesity and poor dietary outcomes. The goal of this investigation is to generate a robust basic science evidence for parenting highly food motivated children to prevent excessive dietary intakes and body mass index (BMI) gains during the preschool years. Using a prospective cohort design, this investigation follow 205 caregiver/child dyads over 18 months as children transition from preschool to elementary school, when significant numbers of children begin to experience problems of poor diet quality and obesity. Children with varying food motivation will be recruited to understand whether highly food motivated children have different needs than other children. A multi-method approach will use state-of-the-art measures, including ecological momentary assessment, to comprehensively investigate the amount, types, and consistency of food parenting practices (i.e., specific, goal-oriented behaviors) needed to prevent food motivated behaviors, excessive dietary intake, and BMI gains in children. Specifically, the role of structure (i.e., theoretically supportive) and its differentiation from more coercive types of food parenting control will be comprehensively characterized.

Conditions

Parenting; Eating Behavior; Diet, Healthy; Pediatric Obesity

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Caregiver-child dyads

A cohort of 205 caregivers and 205 children aged 4-5 years at baseline will be recruited and followed longitudinally for 18 months.

Group Type: OTHER

Measurement

Intervention Type: OTHER

The only interventions are at the measurement level and consist of two behavioral protocols designed to assess children's eating behavior, where food stimuli are provided and children's behavioral responses are recorded.

Interventions

Measurement

The only interventions are at the measurement level and consist of two behavioral protocols designed to assess children's eating behavior, where food stimuli are provided and children's behavioral responses are recorded.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Eating in the absence of hunger; Relative reinforcing value of food

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Child ages 4 or 5 years at baseline;

2. Parent/ primary caregiver with legal representation (having 50% or more custody of child);

3. Parent/primary caregiver reporting primary responsibility for child feeding outside of childcare (being with child when they are eating at least two times daily);

4. Caregiver with a cell phone that can be used to send and receive text messages. If there is more than one age-eligible child in the family, we will ask the caregiver to pick the index child.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Parent/primary caregiver <18 years of age;

2. Child history of major food allergies (e.g., peanuts);

3. Child medication use (e.g., insulin), developmental disability (e.g., autism) or medical condition(s) (e.g., diabetes) known to affect food intake and growth;

4. Foster child.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 4 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Baylor College of Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Minnesota

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Temple University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Jennifer O Fisher, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Temple University

Sheryl O Hughes, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Baylor College of Medicine

Locations

Temple University - Center for Obesity Research and Education

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Christina Croce, MS

Role: CONTACT

christina.croce@temple.edu

215-707-8672

Nilda Micheli, BS

Role: CONTACT

nildam@bcm.edu

713-798-6737

Facility Contacts

Christina Croce, MS

Role: primary

nurturingneeds@temple.edu

267-428-7893

Nilda Micheli, BS

Role: primary

nildam@bcm.edu

713-798-6737

References

Buttner C, Skupin A, Reimann T, Rieber EP, Unteregger G, Geyer P, Frank KH. Local production of interleukin-4 during radiation-induced pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis in rats: macrophages as a prominent source of interleukin-4. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 1997 Sep;17(3):315-25. doi: 10.1165/ajrcmb.17.3.2279.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 9308918 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

30291

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

R01DK132642

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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