Efficacy of Nutrition Risk Screening With NutriSTEP® in Toddlers and Preschoolers

NCT02582554 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 052454
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 166
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Good nutrition is necessary for optimal growth and development in young children. Nutrition risk screening can identify those at risk and to refer them for assessment and treatment. The NutriSTEP® (Nutrition Risk Screening for Every Preschooler) questionnaires are 17-item, community-based, parent-administered questionnaires for identifying nutritional risk in toddlers (18-35 months) and preschoolers (3-5 years). Internet versions are available on the Dietitians of Canada website as part of a Nutri-eSTEP online tool. NutriSTEP® is mandated for use in Ontario and New Brunswick and is also used in other provinces. NutriSTEP® has been implemented in Canadian jurisdictions and in research settings. Many health care practitioners, mainly registered dietitians, and policy makers, are asking for evidence that NutriSTEP® makes a difference and this project is proposed to show that nutrition screening with NutriSTEP® with its accompanying nutrition education resources will increase knowledge and change nutrition-related practices by parents of preschoolers. This research will be a randomized control trial with more than 150 parents/caregivers of toddlers and preschoolers. The treatment group will receive screening with the Nutri-eSTEP version of NutriSTEP® and will receive the accompanying nutrition education messages and links to resources. A control group will receive the screening treatment at the end of a 12 week intervention. At the beginning and end of the 12 week period, parents/caregivers will fill out questionnaires on parental nutrition knowledge and nutrition-related behaviour (including attitudes and intentions). This will be the first study of nutrition risk screening with NutriSTEP® to determine if the screening process, along with its accompanying nutrition education messages makes a difference.

Conditions

Dietary Modification

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Score of Nutritional Risk as Assessed by the NutriSTEP Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire

  A valid and reliable 40-item nutrition knowledge questionnaire has been developed to test the contents of the NutriSTEP questionnaire and its accompanying nutrition education material. Correct scores on the items on the questionnaire will be added up for a total score, with differences between the start of the study and the end of the study compared and also a comparison between the intervention and control groups.

  12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Score of Nutrition Behaviour as Assessed by the NutriSTEP Questionnaire

  12 weeks

• Score of Attitudes and Self-Efficacy as Determined by the NutriSTEP Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Questionnaire

  12 weeks

• Score of Intentions to Change Behaviour as Determined by the NutriSTEP Intentions Questionnaire

  12 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention: NutriSTEP The intervention will be the administration of NutriSTEP, a nutrition risk screening questionnaire for preschoolers along with a nutrition education brochure called How to Build a Healthy Preschooler

Behavioral: NutriSTEP

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control: Wait-list control The wait-list control group will complete the NutriSTEP and receive the nutrition education information at the end of the 3 month study period

Interventions

NutriSTEP BEHAVIORAL

Provision of nutrition risk screening with NutriSTEP (a nutrition risk screening questionnaire for preschoolers) and nutrition education with NutriSTEP related materials

Also known as: How to Build a Healthy Preschooler

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 3 Years - 6 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Parents/caregivers of 3-5 year old children, speak English, read English at Grade 6 level

You may not qualify if:

• Parent of an institutionalized child

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Guelph: lead

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SCREENING
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: College Professor Emerita

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 13, 2015
• First Posted: October 21, 2015
• Study Start: October 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2016
• Study Completion: May 1, 2016
• Last Updated: May 11, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-05