Caloric Intake
Conditions
Keywords
dietary variety, course sequence, preschool, child feeding
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which manipulation of dietary variety and course sequence affects fruit intake and overall energy intake in preschool-aged children.
Detailed description
In the past two decades overweight and obesity rates in children (ages 2-19) have risen from 5% to 17%, with toddlers (ages 2-5) at 10%. Among children and adolescents the consumption of low-energy-dense foods, such as fruit and vegetables (F&Vs), remain below current recommendations. Therefore, strategies to increase low-energy-dense F&V intake and decrease high-energy-dense food intake aimed at young children are essential. Antecedents, or cues, can trigger eating. Therefore, manipulating food presentation can be utilized to produce certain behaviors. Dietary variety and course sequence are two examples of this relationship. It has been well established that high dietary variety leads to greater consumption patterns compared to low DV diets in adults. High DV has only been tested with problematic foods, and not with the goal of increasing F&V intake. Additionally, serving a first course meal can act as a preload to decrease intake of the second course entrée. Dietary variety and course sequence manipulations have been experimentally tested with caloric intake goals but never with the goal of increasing F&V intake. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which manipulation of dietary variety and course sequence affects fruit intake and overall energy intake in preschool-aged children.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVariety
These conditions will have snack served with an increase of fruit variety.
BEHAVIORALNon-Variety
These conditions will receive a snack without a variety of fruit.
Sponsors
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* All children that are ≥3 years of age enrolled in the ELC preschool with parental consent can participate. * Eligible children must also like applesauce, peaches and cheese cubes, and be able to consume foods with a spoon.
Exclusion criteria
* Children allergic to applesauce, peaches, or chocolate pudding or who are lactose-intolerant will not be included in the study. * Did not attend all feeding sessions. * Did not consume more than 5 grams from any of the foods on an occasion.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total grams of snack consumed. | 4 weeks | Total grams of snack consumed by participants over the 4-week study (with 1 snack per week) period will be determined by subtracting pre- and post-consumption weight of the snack provided. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed