Weighted Blanket to Treat Anxiety Related to Trying New Foods the Pediatric Population (Food Anxiety)

July 16, 2025 updated by: The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Protocol for Using a Weighted Blanket to Treat Anxiety Related to Trying New Foods in the Pediatric Population

This small experimental pilot study addresses the knowledge gap related to the use of weighted blankets for children with anxiety related to food and eating.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The purpose of the study is to research if weighted blankets might help children with anxiety related to food tolerate new foods better. The parent will be asked to complete a 10-question questionnaire and make a list of the foods the child eats on three occasions (before the study begins, after a control period and after the child uses the weighted blanket). The child will be asked to use a weighted blanket for 5 to 15 minutes prior to at least 3 meals a week for one month, and the child will be asked to complete a 20-question questionnaire taking about 5-12 minutes to complete asking about how they feel on days that they use the weighted blanket and one time a week during the month that they don't use the weighted blanket. The parent will be asked to report any new foods the child tries on the days that they do use the weighted blanket. The parent will be asked to keep the weighted blanket and supervise all use of the weighted blanket for safety. This study will take approximately 2 months total.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
6

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Austin, Texas, United States, 78759
        • Capital Area Speech & Occupational Therapy

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Subject and guardian has provided informed consent in a manner approved by the IRB and is willing and able to comply with the trial procedures.
  2. Subject has identified feeding challenges
  3. Subject has anxiety related to food as reported by caregiver
  4. Subject is between the ages of 8-12
  5. Subject has good reading abilities
  6. Subject weighs 30 pounds or more

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Any medical condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, would place the subject at increased risk for participation due to the inability to remove the blanket safely. Examples of diagnoses that would exclude a participant include spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy.
  2. Concurrent participation on another research study
  3. Participants outside of the ages 8-12
  4. Participants refuse to use the weighted blanket
  5. If the use of a weighted blanket is contraindicated for any reason
  6. Participants lacking the reading ability to complete a questionnaire
  7. Participants who weigh under 30 pounds per parent report and cannot use a commercially available weighted blanket as the minimum weight of a weighted blanket is 3 pounds will be excluded but this exclusion is unlikely due to the inclusion age range

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Weighted Blanket
Device: weighted blanket
Blanket weighted with 10% or less of body weight applied to child prior to meals for duration no more than 15 minutes

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Food Neophobia Scale for Children Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, prior to treatment and post treatment
The Food Neophobia Scale for Children is a 10-item Likert scale questionnaire that parents complete. The responses to the questions on the Food Neophobia Scale for Children ranged from one (Strongly Agree) to seven (Strongly Disagree). The value of each response could be worth 7 points, depending on the responses. The caregivers completed the Food Neophobia Scale for Children questionnaire at baseline, following the usual care period, and after the intervention period. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of food neophobia. The total score range was 10 (lowest) to 70 (highest).
Baseline, prior to treatment and post treatment
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) Median T-Score
Time Frame: Prior and post treatment, up to 2 months
The STAI-C Anxiety Scale asks for ratings of agreement on a 3-point scale using the stem "I feel…" for 20 items both indicative of the presence of anxiety (e.g., 1= not upset; 2= upset; 3= very upset) and reverse-worded (e.g., 1= very calm; 2= calm; 3= not calm) items. The participants completed the STAIC S-Anxiety scale three times per week during the usual care and treatment period. Higher T-scores indicate higher anxiety. The mean of the normalized T-score was 50, and the standard deviation was 10. No established clinical thresholds are defined for this measure.
Prior and post treatment, up to 2 months
Average Number of New Foods
Time Frame: Control Period (1 month) and Treatment Period (1 month)
The average number of foods tried during the control period will be compared to baseline and the average number of new foods tried during the control period will be compared to the average number of new foods tried in the treatment period to understand if more foods were tried when using the weighted blanket.
Control Period (1 month) and Treatment Period (1 month)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 20, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 20, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 10, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 16, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 17, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 5, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 16, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 23-0342

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

upon request, deidentified data will be shared

IPD Sharing Time Frame

May 2025 for 5 years

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

per request

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings