NCT01414699

The Influence of Dietary Variety and Course Sequence on Fruit Intake in Preschool-Aged Children

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 16 (actual)
• Sponsor: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 3 Years – 6 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which manipulation of dietary variety and course sequence affects fruit intake and overall energy intake in preschool-aged children.

Detailed description

In the past two decades overweight and obesity rates in children (ages 2-19) have risen from 5% to 17%, with toddlers (ages 2-5) at 10%. Among children and adolescents the consumption of low-energy-dense foods, such as fruit and vegetables (F\&Vs), remain below current recommendations. Therefore, strategies to increase low-energy-dense F\&V intake and decrease high-energy-dense food intake aimed at young children are essential. Antecedents, or cues, can trigger eating. Therefore, manipulating food presentation can be utilized to produce certain behaviors. Dietary variety and course sequence are two examples of this relationship. It has been well established that high dietary variety leads to greater consumption patterns compared to low DV diets in adults. High DV has only been tested with problematic foods, and not with the goal of increasing F\&V intake. Additionally, serving a first course meal can act as a preload to decrease intake of the second course entrée. Dietary variety and course sequence manipulations have been experimentally tested with caloric intake goals but never with the goal of increasing F\&V intake. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which manipulation of dietary variety and course sequence affects fruit intake and overall energy intake in preschool-aged children.

Conditions

• Caloric Intake

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Variety	These conditions will have snack served with an increase of fruit variety.
BEHAVIORAL	Non-Variety	These conditions will receive a snack without a variety of fruit.

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-08-01
• Primary completion: 2011-12-01
• Completion: 2015-12-01
• First posted: 2011-08-11
• Last updated: 2018-04-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States