Sip and Snack Better (SSB) Study: Improving Added Sugar in Adolescents

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Dietary Habits; Diet, Healthy

• Registration Number: NCT07027865
• Lead Sponsor: Temple University

Brief Summary

Teens consume more added sugar than any other age group. Too much added sugar is associated with poor diet quality, obesity risk, and negative cardiometabolic outcomes. Behavioral interventions to improve dietary intake are needed, but are currently lacking for this age group. This study aims to test how feasible, acceptable, and effective a 12-week contextually-tailored health coaching program, called Sip \& Snack Better (SSB), is in reducing added sugar in teens, compared to a technology-only comparison. It will provide important information on how to improve dietary intake and reduce added sugar in teens. Additionally, measuring diet is very challenging in teens, so this study will also test the use of an objective biomarker (called the carbon isotope ratio (CIR)) as a measure of added sugar intake before, during, and after the 12-week study.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2025-05-20
• Status Verified: 2025-06
• Study Start: 2025-06
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-06-16
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-06-16
• Study First Posted: 2025-06-19
• Last Update Posted: 2025-06-19
• Primary Completion: 2026-05-30
• Study Completion: 2026-07-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 70

Inclusion Criteria

• Parent is 18 years or older, and the legal guardian of the adolescent
• Adolescent is between the ages of 12 and 16 years
• Parents and adolescents have the ability to read, write, and understand English
• Adolescents have a cell phone and are willing to use it to receive text messages and answer survey questions
• Parents and adolescents live in the Philadelphia region and can attend in-person visits at the research center in North Philadelphia
• Parents and adolescents can access video communication platforms (i.e., Zoom) via phone or computer
• Parents and adolescents are willing to be randomized to either treatment condition
• Adolescents exceed daily recommendations for added sugar intake (as assessed by dietary screener)

Exclusion Criteria

• Adolescent has a medical condition that influences weight status or added sugar intake (e.g., Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes)
• Adolescent has a psychological or psychiatric condition that prevents study participation without individualized support (e.g., autism spectrum disorder)
• Adolescent has been diagnosed with or has received/is receiving treatment for an eating disorder
• Adolescent has been diagnosed with or has received/is receiving treatment for depression
• Adolescent has dietary restrictions, dietary prescriptions, or dietary goals given by a health care provider that would influence weight or added sugar intake

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Added Sugar Intake	Baseline to 12-weeks	Change in added sugar intake will be assessed using the carbon isotope ratio (CIR) as a objective measure of added sugar intake via breath, blood, and hair samples taken at baseline and post-intervention. Intent-to-treat analyses will be conducted using linear regression models to examine changes in CIR between intervention and control participants. A lower (i.e., more negative) CIR value indicates lower added sugar intake.
Intervention Feasibility	Baseline to 12-weeks	Feasibility will be assessed by session attendance (\>75%) and retention (\>80%) over the 12-week study.
Intervention Acceptability	Baseline to 12-weeks	Participants will report acceptability (\>80% rating of 4 or 5 on Likert scale questions) on a post-intervention acceptability questionnaire

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Diet Quality	Baseline to 12-weeks	Changes in diet quality will be assessed via Healthy Eating Index (HEI) derived from three 24-hour dietary recalls at baseline and post-intervention. HEI is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating higher diet quality.