Dietary Habits, Diet, Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
dietary intake, added sugar, adolescents, behavior change, dietary intake assessment
Brief summary
Teens consume more added sugar than any other age group. Too much added sugar is associated with poor diet quality, obesity risk, and negative cardiometabolic outcomes. Behavioral interventions to improve dietary intake are needed, but are currently lacking for this age group. This study aims to test how feasible, acceptable, and effective a 12-week contextually-tailored health coaching program, called Sip & Snack Better (SSB), is in reducing added sugar in teens, compared to a technology-only comparison. It will provide important information on how to improve dietary intake and reduce added sugar in teens. Additionally, measuring diet is very challenging in teens, so this study will also test the use of an objective biomarker (called the carbon isotope ratio (CIR)) as a measure of added sugar intake before, during, and after the 12-week study.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSip & Snack Better (SSB) Intervention
Participants (teens 12-16 years) and their parent or legal guardian will participate in a 12-week health coaching intervention to reduce added sugar intake. Parents and teens will participate in 6 health coaching sessions (in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12; 30-45 minutes, online via Zoom). Teens will participate in four in-person groups sessions (in weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8) and receive text-messages to reinforce intervention content.
OTHERSip & Snack Better (SSB) Tech-Only Comparison
Participants (teens 12-16 years) and their parent or legal guardian will participate in a 12-week technology-only comparison arm. Parents and teens will receive information about added sugar intake and healthy eating once via email or text message (based on preference) in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12. Teens will receive informational text messages 3 times per week .
Sponsors
Temple University
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Parent is 18 years or older, and the legal guardian of the adolescent * Adolescent is between the ages of 12 and 16 years * Parents and adolescents have the ability to read, write, and understand English * Adolescents have a cell phone and are willing to use it to receive text messages and answer survey questions * Parents and adolescents live in the Philadelphia region and can attend in-person visits at the research center in North Philadelphia * Parents and adolescents can access video communication platforms (i.e., Zoom) via phone or computer * Parents and adolescents are willing to be randomized to either treatment condition * Adolescents exceed daily recommendations for added sugar intake (as assessed by dietary screener)
Exclusion criteria
* Adolescent has a medical condition that influences weight status or added sugar intake (e.g., Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes) * Adolescent has a psychological or psychiatric condition that prevents study participation without individualized support (e.g., autism spectrum disorder) * Adolescent has been diagnosed with or has received/is receiving treatment for an eating disorder * Adolescent has been diagnosed with or has received/is receiving treatment for depression * Adolescent has dietary restrictions, dietary prescriptions, or dietary goals given by a health care provider that would influence weight or added sugar intake
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Added Sugar Intake | Baseline to 12-weeks | Change in added sugar intake will be assessed using the carbon isotope ratio (CIR) as a objective measure of added sugar intake via breath, blood, and hair samples taken at baseline and post-intervention. Intent-to-treat analyses will be conducted using linear regression models to examine changes in CIR between intervention and control participants. A lower (i.e., more negative) CIR value indicates lower added sugar intake. |
| Intervention Feasibility | Baseline to 12-weeks | Feasibility will be assessed by session attendance (\>75%) and retention (\>80%) over the 12-week study. |
| Intervention Acceptability | Baseline to 12-weeks | Participants will report acceptability (\>80% rating of 4 or 5 on Likert scale questions) on a post-intervention acceptability questionnaire |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Diet Quality | Baseline to 12-weeks | Changes in diet quality will be assessed via Healthy Eating Index (HEI) derived from three 24-hour dietary recalls at baseline and post-intervention. HEI is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating higher diet quality. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed