Child Sweet and Savory Snack Study

The purpose of this study is to determine how consumption of a snack food affects the hedonic ratings of that snack food compared to other foods. The results will have implications for guidance about the provision of snacks for preschool children and may help in identifying strategies for the prevention of obesity in children.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Eating Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Sweet Snack; Other: Savory Snack

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 14
• 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: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children who are enrolled in a scheduled classroom of the participating childcare centers
• Children who are between the ages of 4 and 6 years old at the time of enrollment

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who are allergic to any of the foods served
• Children whose diets exclude any of the foods served
• Children who are absent from the childcare center on the acclimation day or both study days
• Children who are not able to complete study measures (e.g. only use the anchors or have low variability for their liking ratings)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sweet Snack; A sweet food will be served as the snack	Other: Sweet Snack; A sweet food will be served for the snack
Experimental: Savory Snack; A savory food will be served as the snack	Other: Savory Snack; A savory food will be served for the snack

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change between interventions in liking of each test food	Change between interventions in liking (before to after consumption) of the 5 test foods, measured using a visual analog scale (0-100 points).	Study weeks 1 and 2
Change between interventions in ranked preference of each test food from before to after consumption	Change in ranked preference (before to after consumption) of the 5 test foods.	Study weeks 1 and 2

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change between interventions of intake by weight	Weight (grams) of food and water consumed	Study weeks 1 and 2
Change between interventions of intake by energy	Energy (kilocalories) of food consumed	Study weeks 1 and 2
Change between interventions in fullness ratings from before to after consumption	Change in fullness ratings (before to after consumption) measured using a 4-point scale ranging from empty to full.	Study weeks 1 and 2

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Penn State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 5, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 15, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 14, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): November 18, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 15, 2025
• Last Verified: January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: ChildFood701

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No