Healthy Eating ASD

Not Applicable

Withdrawn

• Conditions: Food Selectivity
• Interventions: Behavioral: Pre Meal Presentation; Behavioral: Pre Meal Presentation + Modeling; Behavioral: Pre Meal Presentation + Token Economy

• Registration Number: NCT04075552
• Lead Sponsor: Penn State University

Brief Summary

Most studies which have addressed food selectivity among children with autism spectrum disorders have been conducted in either clinic or home settings. School-based research has been conducted to increase healthy eating, but this research was largely conducted with children without special needs or if children with special needs did participate, they were not identified.

This study will focus on increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables among children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in a school setting.

Detailed Description

Food Preference Inventory: A survey of food preference and eating habits, developed by the experimenter, will be provided to the parents/guardians of prospective participants. The Food Preference Inventory is anticipated to take between 10 and 20 mins to complete. The parent/guardian of the prospective participant is asked to return toe inventory to the school if 1) the parent/guardian gives permission for his/her child to participate and 2) if the child does not have a food allergy.

General Procedures: Each day of the study (1-5 days per week), school staff will offer participants a small portion of a fruit or vegetable (about 1/8 cup) to eat during lunch time. The participant will have about 5 min to consume the item before it is recollected by school staff.

Baseline: The fruit or vegetable is presented with the participants lunch. Eating the item produces no programmed consequences.

Single Item Presentation: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). Eating the item produces no programmed consequences.

Single Item Presentation + Modeling: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). School staff will model eating the food item.

Single Item Presentation + Token Economy: The fruit or vegetable is presented before the participants lunch (about 5 min). Eating the item will produce a token (e.g., a sticker or hole punch). Once the student collects a few tokens (e.g., 3-5), he/she can exchange the tokens for a small price (e.g., pencil or crayon).

Data Collection: Data will be collected by school staff. Staff will record whether each participant consume the fruit or vegetable item.

Safety Procedures: School staff will monitor lunch - as they typically do.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-09-23
• Study First Submitted: 2019-08-28
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-08-29
• Study First Posted: 2019-08-30
• Status Verified: 2022-09
• Primary Completion: 2022-09-26
• Study Completion: 2022-09-26
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-09-26
• Last Update Posted: 2022-09-28

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: WITHDRAWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: Not specified

Inclusion Criteria

• Participants will be students in a private school with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder and between 6-14 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria

• Parents who report their children have food allergies of any kind will be excluded.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Participants	Pre Meal Presentation	Participants are students from a specialized school for children with autism.
Participants	Pre Meal Presentation + Modeling	Participants are students from a specialized school for children with autism.
Participants	Pre Meal Presentation + Token Economy	Participants are students from a specialized school for children with autism.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Increased consumption of healthy foods	Through study completion, 1 year.	Direct measure of the number of healthy foods items eaten

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Hogan Learning Academy; 🇺🇸 Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, United States