None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This project aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention to improve the feeding practices of parents concerned for the fussy eating behaviours of their toddlers. The program will be delivered via a mobile web-based application with text-message prompts.
Interventions
A mobile web app and push notifications will be used to deliver intervention content. Participants in the intervention group will have access to the app for 6 weeks. The amount of time that they engage with the app will be at the participants' own discretion. Intervention content, developed by a team of experts, offers education and practical advice based on established behaviour change theory and techniques to help parents use evidence-based feeding practises to manage toddler fussy eating. Thi
A mobile web app and push notifications will be used to deliver intervention content. Participants in the intervention group will have access to the app for 6 weeks. The amount of time that they engage with the app will be at the participants' own discretion. Intervention content, developed by a team of experts, offers education and practical advice based on established behaviour change theory and techniques to help parents use evidence-based feeding practises to manage toddler fussy eating. This includes information about toddler growth and development, parent feeding strategies (e.g. repeated offers of vegetables, family meals, offering foods without pressure, avoiding the use of food to reward eating or behaviour), and toddler nutrition requirements. Information will be presented as short articles and interactive activities. The mobile web app also includes a self-monitoring tool to help parents keep track of repeated offers of vegetables (a key parent feeding strategy) and tools to help parents self-regulate emotions and behaviours related to their toddler’s fussy eating (e.g. promoting mindfulness, practical tips for toddler tantrums). Text messaging (SMS) will be used to promote parent engagement, provide feedback on goal setting and self-monitoring activities, and remind them of key messages. Participants will be able to specify their own personalized SMS notification schedule (e.g. days and times). SMS notifications will be personalised where appropriate. Participants who are inactive after 1 week will receive an SMS notification to invite them to engage with the app. Inactive participants will continue to receive a weekly reminder to engage with the app until the end of the 6 week pilot or until the participant requests that the notifications no longer be sent. Intervention adherence will be monitored by app usage data and push notifications will be used to encourage participants to re-engage after predetermined periods of app inactivity.
Sponsors
Deakin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
12 Months to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be eligible for inclusion if they currently live in Australia, are able to read and write in English, have a mobile phone that can access the internet and care for a child that is 12-36 months old and lives with them at least half of the time.
Exclusion criteria
Because the intervention has been developed to address the concerns of parents whose children display developmentally typical eating behaviours and have no co-existing conditions that present additional nutritional risk, participants will also excluded if they indicate that their child has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, learning difficulties, avoidant/restrictive intake disorder, or a condition that requires them to follow special dietary requirements (e.g. type 1 diabetes, cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, or metabolic conditions).
Outcome results
None listed