Husky Reads Effectiveness in Increasing Produce Preference and Food Group Identification in Preschool Children

NCT03338257 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 17-069-3601305
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Since 1998, UCONN undergraduate students have volunteered as part of a service- learning course to deliver a program called Husky Reads. Inspired by the nationally accepted American Academy of Pediatrics' program "Reach Out and Read," Husky Reads was first designed for promotion of health, nutrition habits and literacy by reading health-oriented books to young children in pediatric and health clinics. The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis. This series targets children at an early age because early childhood is a pivotal time to influence the path towards healthy behaviors and away from obesity. The effectiveness of the Husky Reads curriculum on a preschool age child's correct identification and liking of fruits and vegetables has not been established. The proposed evaluation uses a pre-test/post- test control group design with paired data at the child level to explore whether children who participate in Husky Reads have increased odds of correctly identifying the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "MyPlate" program (MyPlate) and food group concepts and trying or liking select fruits and vegetables.

Conditions

Childhood Obesity

Keywords

Pre-school children; fruit and vegetable acceptance; service-learning; pre-school nutrition education; childhood obesity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Identification of MyPlate

  Ability to name MyPlate (Larsen et al)

  Three week post 10-week intervention

• Ability to place foods in MyPlate food groups

  Measured by using the Food Group Game, informed by Building a Healthy Me! evaluation survey. (Larsen et al.)

  Three week post 10-week intervention

• Identification of specified fruits and vegetables

  Identification using modified Carraway-Stage protocol

  Three week post 10-week intervention

• Preference for specified fruits and vegetables

  Fruit and vegetable liking as measured by modified Carraway-Stage protocol

  Three week post 10-week intervention

Study Arms (2)

Husky Reads Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The Husky Reads curriculum includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children's book, an activity or game, and sometimes food tasting to complement the learning objectives. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service-learning course at UCONN or college students participating in a paid summer internship deliver the program. Each team of 2-3 students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads on a weekly basis.

Behavioral: Husky Reads Intervention

Wait list Control

NO INTERVENTION

Programs on the wait list for Husky Reads, participate in the pre and post intervention testing but do not receive the program.

Interventions

Husky Reads Intervention BEHAVIORAL

The Husky Reads curriculum now includes a series of 10 lessons designed to introduce preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children's book, an activity or game, and food tasting to complement learning objectives related to MyPlate and fruit/vegetable literacy. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Husky Reads service- learning course at UConn or college students participating in the paid summer internship program deliver the preschool lessons. Each team of 2-3 undergraduate students is assigned 2-3 early care classrooms to visit and deliver Husky Reads lessons to on a weekly basis.

Husky Reads Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 35 Months - 71 Months
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• child attending center or school based early care with high family enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP)

You may not qualify if:

• child whose parent has signed the "opt out" portion of the notification form.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• UConn Health: lead

Study Sites (1)

UConn Health

Farmington, Connecticut, 06030, United States

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Carraway-Stage V, Spangler H, Borges M, Goodell LS. Evaluation of a pictorial method to assess liking of familiar fruits and vegetables among preschool children. Appetite. 2014 Apr;75:11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.12.011. Epub 2013 Dec 21.

  PMID: 24365199 BACKGROUND

• Larsen AL, Liao Y, Alberts J, Huh J, Robertson T, Dunton GF. RE-AIM Analysis of a School-Based Nutrition Education Intervention in Kindergarteners. J Sch Health. 2017 Jan;87(1):36-46. doi: 10.1111/josh.12466.

  PMID: 27917488 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Obesity; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Ann m Ferris, PhD

  UConn Health

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Erin Havens, MPH

  UConn Health

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The evaluation follows a pre-test/post-test control group design with children nested within classrooms at center and school-based early care programs located in low-income communities or areas with high SNAP eligibility rates

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 7, 2017
• First Posted: November 9, 2017
• Study Start: May 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: May 10, 2023
• Study Completion: May 10, 2023
• Last Updated: June 5, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Locations

US (1)