Evaluation of the Effect of Sensory Imagination on Food Portion Size in School-aged Children

Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation

Status: Completed

Conditions: Sensory Imagination

Treatments: Behavioral: Sensory imagination about foods

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03350932

PUNCH 2.4 (2016-A00498-43)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of this intervention is to evaluate the effect of sensory imagination (i.e., imagining the sensory properties of an object) on the choice of food portion size in school-aged children. Previous research showed that it may help children to choose smaller portion size. The investigators would like to assess whether this effect can be reproduced with two types of food (one with a high energy-density and one with a low energy-density), and in older children.

Full description

School-aged children (8-11 years old) will be included in their usual schools to participate in an afternoon snack, organised according to regular arrangements, during two days separated by one week. On each day, the participants will receive a choice of three portion sizes of a food (small, medium, large), and will be asked to chose one of these portions and to eat it for snack. On one day, the high energy-density food will be offered; and on the other day, the low energy-density food. This will be counterbalanced across participants. Moreover, two groups of children will be constituted: the first group, the control group, will have to perform a sensory imagination task about neutral facts. The second group, the "food sensory imagination" group, will have to perform a sensory imagination task foods.

Enrollment: 82 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 7 to 13 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

• Children with food allergies
• Children who dislike experimental foods

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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82 participants in 2 patient groups

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

This group of children, will have to perform a sensory imagination task about neutral facts before choosing the portion size of a food.

Food sensory imagination

Experimental group

Description:

This group, the "food sensory imagination" group, will have to perform a sensory imagination task foods (being the intervention) before choosing the portion size of a food.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sensory imagination about foods