Children's Taste Study to Increase Vegetable Intake in Preschoolers (CTS)

The Pennsylvania State University (PENNSTATE)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Pediatric Obesity

Treatments: Other: Variety Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03043118

ChildrensTasteStudy

Details and patient eligibility

About

Studies have shown that when exposed to a variety of food and flavor options people tend to consume more than when only one item is presented. This strategy has been used to increase vegetable intake in adults and during snacktime in children. Increasing vegetable consumption in children is important because higher vegetable intake has been associated with reduced risk of disease and because vegetables can help prevent weight gain by lowering the energy density of a meal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using herb and spice blends to create flavor variety in carrots as a model vegetable in a laboratory test meal. We predict that children will consume more vegetables and that the energy density of the meal will be lower when a variety of seasoned carrots are presented in comparison to a single flavor. A secondary goal of the study was to determine other influences that may predict children's liking and intake of seasoned vegetables, such as previous exposure, infant feeding practices, and genetic bitter sensitivity.

Enrollment: 48 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 3 to 5 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Acceptance of test meal foods
• Generally healthy

Exclusion criteria

• Food allergies
• Medications (prescription or OTC) that can affect taste, smell or appetite
• Medical conditions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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48 participants in 2 patient groups

Variety

Experimental group

Description:

Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with a different herb and spice blend.

Treatment:

Other: Variety Intervention

No Variety - Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Children receive three servings of vegetables each prepared with the same herb and spice blend.