Children's Taste Study to Increase Vegetable Intake in Preschoolers (CTS)

A Pilot Study to Test the Influence of Vegetable Flavor Variety Using Herbs and Spices on Preschool Children's Vegetable Intake

Studies have shown that when exposed to a variety of food and flavor options people tend to consume more than when only one item is presented. This strategy has been used to increase vegetable intake in adults and during snacktime in children. Increasing vegetable consumption in children is important because higher vegetable intake has been associated with reduced risk of disease and because vegetables can help prevent weight gain by lowering the energy density of a meal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using herb and spice blends to create flavor variety in carrots as a model vegetable in a laboratory test meal. We predict that children will consume more vegetables and that the energy density of the meal will be lower when a variety of seasoned carrots are presented in comparison to a single flavor. A secondary goal of the study was to determine other influences that may predict children's liking and intake of seasoned vegetables, such as previous exposure, infant feeding practices, and genetic bitter sensitivity.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pediatric Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Variety Intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 48
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, 16802
      • The Pennsylvania State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years to 5 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Acceptance of test meal foods
• Generally healthy

Exclusion Criteria:

• Food allergies
• Medications (prescription or OTC) that can affect taste, smell or appetite
• Medical conditions

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Variety; Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with a different herb and spice blend.	Other: Variety Intervention; Vegetable flavor variety created with multiple herb and spice blends
No Intervention: No Variety - Control; Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with the same herb and spice blend.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Chang in Vegetable Intake	Consumption is measured by pre- and post- weights of carrot offered in both the variety and no variety conditions	Baseline and 1 week
Change in Total Food Intake	Consumption is measured by pre- and post- weights of all meal items offered in both the variety and no variety conditions	Baseline and 1 week
Change in Meal Energy Density	Calculated from the total calories consumed divided by the grams of food eaten	Baseline and 1 week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Spice Intake Questionnaire	A survey of maternally reported herb and spice consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding as well as current home use	Baseline
Home Spice Checklist	A comprehensive checklist of 34 herbs and spices for parents to fill out at home to evaluate children's overall herb and spice exposure	Baseline
Infant Feeding Practices	A survey of maternally reported feeding practices, include breastfeeding, formula feeding, and introduction to solid foods.	Baseline
Liking of Broccoli with Herbs and Spices	Liking is measured using a child friendly 5-pt hedonic scale; pilot data for future studies looking to apply this technique to green vegetables	Baseline
Liking of Carrots with Herb and Spice Blends	Liking is measured using a child friendly 5-pt hedonic scale	Baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Age	Age of the participant on visit 1	Baseline
Height	Height measured in cm on a stadiometer	Baseline
Weight	Weight measured to the 0.1 pounds using a digital scale	Baseline
6-n-propylthiourcacil Sensitivity	Children switch and spit a 56 umol solution of 6-n-propylthiouracil and are classified as tasters if it described as "bitter" or "yucky" and non-tasters if it's described as "nothing" or "like water".	Baseline
Body Mass Index	Calculated from height and weight (kg/m^2)	Baseline
Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire	A validated parent-reported questionnaire on children's typical eating behaviors and attitudes toward foods	Baseline
Preschool Adjusted Liking Scale	A questionnaire to assess children's liking of various common foods and daily activities.	Baseline
Family Demographics	A parent-reported questionnaire	Baseline
Parental Feeding Practices	A parent-reported questionnaire on typical feeding practices	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Penn State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kathleen L Keller, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 2, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): November 2, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 1, 2017
• First Posted (Estimate): February 3, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 5, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 4, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Eating Behaviors; Preschool; Vegetable Intake
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: ChildrensTasteStudy

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO