None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Worldwide the number of overweight children is still rising. While vegetable consumption before the age of 7 has shown to be an important prevention factor, children are not eating the required amount. To make healthy eating more fun, picture books with engaging characters are being used to promote vegetable consumption. These types of books have shown to increase the vegetable consumption of preschoolers (aged 4-6 years) when read “interactively”, meaning that questions about the story are asked to the child during reading. With governments increasingly focusing on younger audiences, the current study investigated whether interactive shared reading of a vegetable-promoting picture book also increases the vegetable consumption of toddlers (aged 2-3 years) or whether a hand puppet as additional tool is needed. The impact of vegetable-promoting picture books was tested with a book about a rabbit that is able to rescue his friend only after eating carrots to make him strong. In addition, a hand puppet was developed resembling the main book character. The study had a 2 (reading style: passive vs. interactive) x 2 (puppet use: no vs. yes) between-subjects design. In the interactive reading condition children were asked questions about the story, whereas no questions were asked in the passive condition. Both types of shared reading were either performed with a puppet resembling the main book character (rabbit) or without a puppet. In the puppet condition, the storyteller would have the puppet listen to the story, pointing out pictures in the book, imitating the movements shown in the pictures, and speak the character’s lines from the book. 163 Toddlers in nursery schools were randomly assigned to the conditions. They were read to in small groups and observed on 4 consecutive days. During the observations, narrative involvement and character imitation was registered. On the last day, carrot consumption was measured with an eating task, in which toddlers could freely eat snacks for 5 minutes. The results of the study will be published in a scientific journal.
Interventions
STUDY DESIGN:
The intervention used in this experimental study consisted of shared reading a picture book about a rabbit that loves to eat carrots. The study had a 2 (reading style: passive vs. interactive) x 2 (puppet use: without vs. with hand puppet) between-subjects design. Toddlers (2-3 years old) were randomly assigned to one of these four conditions. During the interactive reading sessions, children were asked questions about the story, whereas no questions were asked during the passive r
STUDY DESIGN: The intervention used in this experimental study consisted of shared reading a picture book about a rabbit that loves to eat carrots. The study had a 2 (reading style: passive vs. interactive) x 2 (puppet use: without vs. with hand puppet) between-subjects design. Toddlers (2-3 years old) were randomly assigned to one of these four conditions. During the interactive reading sessions, children were asked questions about the story, whereas no questions were asked during the passive reading sessions. Both types of shared reading were either performed with a puppet resembling the main book character (rabbit) or without a puppet. PROCEDURE: Reading sessions were conducted in a quiet room within the nursery school during one week. Because Dutch nursery schools are closed on Wednesday afternoon, the readings took place on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (thus, the intervention ran for one week only, with children participating in four reading sessions in total). The reading sessions took about ten minutes, each consisting of approximately four toddlers. Since there were no attendance requirements at the schools, the composition of shared reading groups could differ within the same condition. Toddlers were given name stickers, which facilitated observers to fill out a checklist of children’s behaviors shown during the reading sessions. Moreover, name stickers facilitated the storyteller to ask questions to the children during interactive shared reading. After the fourth reading session (on Friday), the dependent variable was measured with an eating task, in which toddlers could freely eat snacks for five minutes. For the reading sessions, four young females with a pedagogical background were recruited and trained in the different reading styles and puppetry. These storytellers were teamed up with four female experimenters who observed the toddlers during the readings. The observers were trained in filling out the checklist, and observed the children from a distance to prevent session disruptions.
Sponsors
Radboud University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Factorial
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
2 Years to 3 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
- Boys and girls aged 2-3 years without food allergies. - From nursery schools without formal fruit and vegetable programs, with children from mostly low-SES households. - Nursary schools provided active consent, and parents provided passive consent for their children.
Exclusion criteria
Nursery schools with formal fruit and vegetable programs, children with food allergies.
Outcome results
None listed