Using Models' Facial Expressions to Enhance Healthy Eating Behaviour in Children

NCT04988854 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: #1688
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 117
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study examined the effect of adults' facial expressions (FEs) whilst eating raw broccoli on children's acceptance and intake of a typically less preferred vegetable. Investigating others' FEs in isolation (e.g., without statements about food tastiness) will improve understanding of the role of FEs in modelling of eating and contribute to developing strategies to help children learn pleasure from nutritious foods. Based on previous literature, it was hypothesised that children's acceptance (willingness to try, and frequency of taste exposures) and intake of raw broccoli would be higher after exposure to models eating raw broccoli with positive FEs, compared to models consuming raw broccoli with neutral FEs, or a non-food control video.

Conditions

Eating Behavior

Keywords

Children

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Raw broccoli intake

  Children's intake of raw broccoli (amount of grams consumed)

  5 minutes

• Willingness to try raw broccoli

  Children's willingness to try raw broccoli

  5 minutes

• Frequency of taste exposures to raw broccoli

  Children's number of oral taste exposures to raw broccoli

  5 minutes

Study Arms (3)

Positive Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Children were exposed to a video of adult models eating a single piece of raw broccoli whilst showing a positive facial expression (positive video)

Behavioral: Facial expression video

Neutral Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Children were exposed to a video of adult models eating a single piece of raw broccoli whilst showing a neutral facial expression (neutral video)

Behavioral: Facial expression video

No-Food Control Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Children were exposed to a video of adult models putting pens away whilst showing a neutral facial expression (no-food control video)

Behavioral: Facial expression video

Interventions

Facial expression video BEHAVIORAL

Children are randomly allocated to one of three conditions: positive, neutral or no-food control, where they will watch either a positive, neutral, or no-food control video.

Neutral Condition; No-Food Control Condition; Positive Condition

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 4 Years - 6 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Child must be aged 4-6-years old. Parent and child must be living in the UK.

You may not qualify if:

• Children with food allergies, food intolerances, or medical conditions that affect eating behaviour were not eligible to take part.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Aston University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Aston University

Birmingham, B4 7ET, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior

Study Officials

• Katie Edwards, BSc

  Aston University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (positive, neutral or control)

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 26, 2021
• First Posted: August 4, 2021
• Study Start: October 26, 2020
• Primary Completion: February 25, 2021
• Study Completion: February 25, 2021
• Last Updated: August 4, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF
• Time Frame: IPD will be available upon request.
• Access Criteria: IPD will be provided when requested by researchers. The investigators will review requests.

Locations

GB (1)