Dismantling the U.S. Social Norm of the "Kids' Food" Archetype (REACH Project)

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Food Selection; Environmental Exposure
• Interventions: Behavioral: Conventional Ultra-processed Food Nutrition Education; Behavioral: Arts-based Ultra-processed Food Nutrition Education

• Registration Number: NCT06266533
• Lead Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Brief Summary

This project is the first stage of a health promotion campaign to shift social norms about marketing and feeding children ultra-processed foods. Embedded within a longitudinal ethnographic study using photo-elicitation techniques, mothers of preschool-age children will be randomly assigned to arts-based or traditional education about ultra-processed food.

Detailed Description

1. At baseline, describe how mothers of preschool-age children characterize food for children in their home and local environment and describe their knowledge of ultra-processed food.

2. To test different ways of providing nutrition education for increasing knowledge about children's nutrition and ultra-processed foods. Hypothesis: Both groups will correctly identify more ultra-processed foods post-education.

3. To learn in depth from mothers of preschool children about their perceptions of the food environmental culture (markets, advertising, health messaging, community norms, cultural norms, social norms) in Newark, NJ, through a series of focus group discussions about the mothers' photographs of the local food environment pre and post project.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2024-02-05
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-02-12
• Study First Posted: 2024-02-20
• Study Start: 2024-02-21
• Status Verified: 2024-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-03-06
• Last Update Posted: 2024-03-08
• Primary Completion: 2024-07-01
• Study Completion: 2024-07-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 38

Inclusion Criteria

• English-speaking
• African American or Black or bi-racial or multi-racial African American and Black mothers
• >18 years
• Female
• Legal guardian of a preschool-age child (3-5 years) participating in the Leaguers, Inc.

Head Start programming.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Spanish-speaking
• Other racial and ethnic groups
• Fathers

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Conventional Nutrition Education	Conventional Ultra-processed Food Nutrition Education	Conventional nutrition education
Arts-based Nutrition Education	Arts-based Ultra-processed Food Nutrition Education	Arts-based nutrition education video production

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Ultra-Processed Food Knowledge	60 minutes	Participants will classify pictures of foods as ultra-processed or whole foods (adapted from Sarmiento-Santos, cited below) and as healthy or unhealthy. on a Pre and post-ultra-processed food knowledge questionnaire. Both sets of questions are yes or no categorical questions.
Environmental assessment of ultra-processed food	6 months	Participant photographs of the local food environment. At two time points (pre and post educational intervention) participants will take photographs of the local food environment including grocery stores, restaurant menus, etc. The purpose of this is to learn from participants about how they perceive the local kids' food environment and if they observe differences after the intervention. Photo elicitation techniques will be used during a series of focus groups for participants to discuss the photographs they took. These data will be analyzed using a layered analysis of the photographs (appraisal, discussion with participant who took the photo, cross-photo comparison, and interpretation) pre and post educational intervention, and thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Leaguers Inc. Head Start; 🇺🇸 Newark, New Jersey, United States