FoodStep - a Sustainable Model for Food Services and Early Childhood Education and Care

NCT05249946 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: THL/1646/6.00.00/2021
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 116
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Transformation towards a more climate-friendly and healthy sustainable diet will require major changes in the food system: increase in consumption of plant-based foods and only moderate consumption of animal-based foods. In the FoodStep -project, the investigators will develop a sustainable model for food system that reduces the climate impacts of the food system in early childhood education and care. The impact of the changes on children's nutrition, the climate impact of the diet, and the cost of food services will be assessed in a randomised controlled trial. In addition, the effects of the model on the knowledge and attitudes of decision-makers, experts in food service and early childhood education, and families are studied. Based on the project, the model can be applied nationally as part of Finland's climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. Study aim to a sustainable food system reform through concrete guidelines, communication, and action initiatives.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

Nutrition; Health; Food System; Sustainability; Children; Microbiome; Health Economics; Climate neutrality; Early childhood education; Food catering; Cost-effectiveness analysis

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in daycare diet of the children

  The investigators assess the change in vegetable, red meat and milk supply at daycare measured with Food Frequency Questionnaire.

  Before the intervention and 1 year after the intervention

• Change in climate impact of Food System model at systemic level

  The investigators assess the change in carbon footprint of daycare food supply.

  Before the intervention and 1 year after the intervention

• Change in food service cost of Food System model at systemic level

  The investigators assess how the costs change at food services due to the food system intervention and how cost-effective is the food system intervention compared to the food system as usual. Data comes from accounting of food services and book keeping: time spent to different tasks in food services.

  Before the intervention and 1 year after the intervention

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

* increasing provision of vegetables and sustainable fish in food offered in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and adjusting intake of meat and milk to reasonable levels to meet recommendations * advancing food education, reducing food waste and assessing the climate and financial impacts of the shift towards a more plant-based diet

Other: FoodStep - a sustainable health-promoting model for food services and early childhood education and care

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Food supply and food education continue as usual.

Interventions

FoodStep - a sustainable health-promoting model for food services and early childhood education and care OTHER

The investigators create a sustainable food system model that reduces the climate impact of the food system in early childhood education and care. In practice, the investigators i) promote plant-rich recipes, sustainable food purchases and consumption through municipality food services, ii) renew food education, and iii) reduce food waste in early education and care. To ensure the feasibility and long-term commitment, the investigators bring together municipal stakeholders and key actors within the food system and education sectors to co-create the content of a sustainable food system intervention. The randomized controlled intervention will be carried out at 26 daycare centers within four municipalities in Finland. The impact of the changes at a food system level on children's dietary intake and nutritional status, costs of the whole food system, the climate impact of the menus and children's diets as well as food waste in the daycare centers will be examined.

Intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 3 Years - 5 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Are attending a full time daycare

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Suvi Virtanen: lead
• University of Helsinki: collaborator
• Natural Resources Institute Finland: collaborator
• Laurea University of Applied Sciences: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

Helsinki, FI-00271, Finland

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Food Services

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Food Industry; Industry; Technology, Industry, and Agriculture

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Professor

Model Details: Cluster-randomized Trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 29, 2021
• First Posted: February 22, 2022
• Study Start: November 29, 2021
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2024
• Study Completion: November 1, 2024
• Last Updated: September 15, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FI (1)