Variations in Palatability and Portion Size of Vegetables on Meal Intake of Preschool Children

Lunchtime Meal Feeding Study for Preschool Children

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of varying both the palatability and portion size of vegetables served to preschool children at a meal on the outcomes of food and energy intake at the meal.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Feeding Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Plain Vegetables Served in 100% Portion Size; Other: Plain Vegetables Served in 200% Portion Size; Other: Enhanced Vegetables Served in 100% Portion Size; Other: Enhanced Vegetables Served in 200% Portion Size

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 67
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, 16802
      • Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior, The Pennsylvania State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years to 5 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children who are enrolled in a scheduled classroom of the designated childcare centers

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who are allergic to any of the foods served
• Children whose diets exclude any of the foods served
• Children who will not be present at the childcare center for all of the scheduled study days

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Standard Palatability and Standard Portion Size; Vegetables with Standard Palatability and Standard Portion Size	Other: Plain Vegetables Served in 100% Portion Size; Lunch includes (a) vegetables without added flavoring (b) the baseline portion size of vegetables
EXPERIMENTAL: Standard Palatability and Larger Portion Size; Vegetables with Standard Palatability and Larger Portion Size	Other: Plain Vegetables Served in 200% Portion Size; Lunch includes (a) vegetables without added flavoring (b) 200% of the baseline portion size of vegetables
EXPERIMENTAL: Enhanced Palatability and Standard Portion Size; Vegetables with Enhanced Palatability and Standard Portion Size	Other: Enhanced Vegetables Served in 100% Portion Size; Lunch includes (a) vegetables with added flavoring (b) the baseline portion size of vegetables
EXPERIMENTAL: Enhanced Palatability and Larger Portion Size; Vegetables with Enhanced Palatability and Larger Portion Size	Other: Enhanced Vegetables Served in 200% Portion Size; Lunch includes (a) vegetables with added flavoring (b) 200% of the baseline portion size of vegetables

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Difference Between Interventions in Vegetable Intake	Weight of vegetables consumed at the meal (grams)	One meal per week for each intervention (Study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Difference Between Interventions in Food Intake	Weight of food (including milk) consumed at the meal (grams)	One meal per week for each intervention (Study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Difference Between Interventions in Meal Energy Intake	Energy consumed at the meal (kilocalories)	One meal per week for each intervention (Study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Difference Between Interventions in Meal Energy Density	Energy density of the food consumed at the meal (kilocalories/gram)	One meal per week for each intervention (Study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Preference of Vegetables Served at the Meal	Preferred version of vegetables (1=standard palatability, 2=enhanced palatability)	Study week 5
Liking of All Foods Served at the Meal	The Yummy-Yucky Cartoon Faces Scale (1=Yucky, 2=Just Okay, and 3=Yummy)	Study week 5
Ranking of All Foods Served at the Meal	Ranking of all foods in order of preference (1= most preferred, 2= next most preferred, etc.)	Study week 5

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Penn State University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Diktas HE, Roe LS, Keller KL, Sanchez CE, Rolls BJ. Promoting vegetable intake in preschool children: Independent and combined effects of portion size and flavor enhancement. Appetite. 2021 Sep 1;164:105250. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105250. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): May 28, 2019
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): October 24, 2019
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): October 29, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 19, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 23, 2019
• First Posted (ACTUAL): April 24, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 25, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 4, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: ChildFood402; R01DK082580 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No