Are Offline Meals Healthy Meals? A Field Experiment to Promote Healthier Eating in Families

NCT05166252 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 180831
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

First research findings suggest that the influence of digital media on children's and adolescents' health depends primarily on proper use and regulation. In line with Social Cognitive Theory, parents' own mobile device use is very important to regulate children's media use because parents are their children's role models. However, parents do not always behave as optimal role models: They use smartphones on playgrounds, in restaurants, as well as during family mealtimes. This usage of mobile devices leads to interruptions during face-to-face conversations or routines which is defined as "technoference". Studies among children and parents suggest that parental mobile device use is associated with fewer parent-child interactions. In addition, first studies investigated mobile device use at the dining table and showed that mothers had less interactions with their children during meal times when they used a mobile device compared to mothers who did not and their children were also less likely to try new and unfamiliar food. Along the same lines, lower parental mobile device use during mealtime is also associated with healthier body weight in children. AIM: Examination of the effect of a time out from smartphone use during a family meal on the parent-child interaction at the meal table and eating quality in comparison to family meals where participants use the smartphone as usual. DESIGN: The study is a within-family field experiment with daily assessments over 14 days (7 days for the experimental condition, 7 days for the control condition). Families will go through both, intervention and control condition with a break of 21 days in between. The assessment of the main and secondary outcomes is conducted at the baseline, over a 14 day daily diary phase and at the follow-up (directly after the daily diary phase). The sample will consist of 120 families with at least one child between the age of 6 to 14 years old. Only the participating adult in the study fills in the questionnaires. OUTCOMES: (Un)healthy eating and parent-child interaction constitute the main outcome, whereas technoference, mealtime duration, atmosphere at the meal table, and smartphone use frequency are secondary outcomes.

Conditions

Health Behavior; Smartphone Addiction; Healthy Nutrition

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• (Un)healthy eating

  Self-reported (un)healthy eating measured via intake of portions of fruits and vegetables, desserts, and sugar-sweetened beverages per day per child. Items according to Flückiger, L., Lieb, R., Meyer, A. H., Witthauer, C., \& Mata, J. (2017). Day-to-day variations in health behaviors and daily functioning: Two intensive longitudinal studies. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 40, 307-319.

  Baseline, Daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total), Follow up (35 days after the first daily diary assessment)

• Parent-child interaction

  Parent-child interaction. Items according to: Mata, J., Dallacker, M., \& Hertwig, R. (2018). A matter of time: Longer meal duration increases healthy eating in children. An experimental study. Invited presentation, conference of the German Society for Psychology, Frankfurt/ Main, Germany.

  Daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Smartphone use

  During the daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total)

• Media use

  Baseline, During the daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total)

• Meal duration

  Baseline, During the daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total)

• Technoference

  Baseline, Daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total), Follow up (35 days after the first daily diary assessment)

• Child's distraction

  Baseline, Daily Diaries (after Baseline assessment; 14 days in total), Follow up (35 days after the first daily diary assessment)

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group

EXPERIMENTAL

1. Installation of the study app. 2. At the beginning of the meal, participants press a button within the App to start a time out from the smartphone at the beginning of a meal (i.e. calls and message are blocked and participants need to press an extra button in order to leave the app). The app instructs all other family members to turn off their phones and to put them away. Then, the participants are instructed to take a picture with their smartphone from the meal table. 3. A time out from the smartphone starts, meaning that all functions of the phone are locked. The time-out is over as soon as the participant presses the "stop" button. 4. A short questionnaire about the meal is sent via App to the participating family member when the smartphone is used again. 5. During the whole period of the study the App tracks the smartphone behavior (i.e., frequency and duration of smartphone use and the specific applications used). Active comparator: control group

Behavioral: Time out from smartphone use during meal time

Control group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Control points in time include all parts as in the experimental group except for number 3.

Behavioral: Control condition

Interventions

Time out from smartphone use during meal time BEHAVIORAL

One parent will be instructed to install a study app. Further, he/she press a button within the App to start a time out from the smartphone at the beginning of a meal (i.e. calls and message are blocked and the parent needs to press an extra button in order to leave the app). The app instructs all other family members to turn off their phones and to put them away. Then, the parent is instructed to take a picture with their smartphone from the "smartphone-free family meal table" . The time-out is over as soon as the parent presses the "stop" button.

Experimental group

Control condition BEHAVIORAL

The same as the experimental condition but without a timeout from smartphone use.

Control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• One parent who 1. lives in a household with at least one child aged between 6 and 14 years 2. eats a family meal (shared meal) with this child at least 5 days/week 3. owns an Android smartphone 4. has mobile internet on the smartphone 5. uses the smartphone on a daily basis 6. uses the smartphone at least sometimes during shared meals 5. agrees on participating in the study.

You may not qualify if:

• Insufficient knowledge of German of the participating family member
• Involvement of the participating family member and/or child in a dietary program to reduce weight or plan to do so for the duration of the study.
• Holidays during the intervention period

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Wuppertal: lead
• Max Planck Institute for Human Development: collaborator
• University of Mannheim: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Forsa

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, 60311, Germany

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Health Behavior; Internet Addiction Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior; Technology Addiction; Behavior, Addictive; Compulsive Behavior; Impulsive Behavior

Study Officials

• Jutta Mata, Prof. Dr.

  University of Mannheim

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Mattea Dallacker, Dr.

  Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Adaptive Rationality

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Theda Radtke, Prof. Dr.

  Uniersity of Wuppertal

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Theda Radtke, Prof. Dr.

CONTACT

+49 202 - 439 5317; radtke@uni-wuppertal.de

Jutta Mata, Prof. Dr.

CONTACT

mata@uni-mannheim.de

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Families are assigned to the 2 conditions in a random order without knowing the aim of the intervention.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr.

Model Details: The study has an AB/BA crossover design, in which each participant receives the intervention and the control in a randomized order.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 20, 2021
• First Posted: December 21, 2021
• Study Start: November 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: January 31, 2022
• Study Completion: December 31, 2024
• Last Updated: January 3, 2022

Record last verified: 2021-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DE (1)