A pilot study of a telephone-based parental intervention to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in 3–5-year-old children

Abstract

Objective: To examine the potential efficacy of a brief telephone-based parental intervention in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged 3-5 years and to examine the feasibility of intervention delivery and acceptability to parents. Design: A pre-post study design with no comparison group. Telephone surveys were conducted approximately 1 week before and following intervention delivery. Setting: Participants were recruited through pre-schools in the Hunter region, New South Wales, Australia. Subjects: Thirty-four parents of 3-5-year-olds received four 30-min interventional telephone calls over 4 weeks administered by trained telephone interviewers. The scripted support calls focused on fruit and vegetable availability and accessibility within the home, parental role modelling of fruit and vegetable consumption and on implementing supportive family eating routines. Results: Following the intervention, the frequency and variety of fruit and vegetable consumption increased (P 5 0?027), as measured by a subscale of the children's dietary questionnaire. The intervention was feasible to be delivered to parents, as all participants who started the intervention completed all four calls, and all aspects of the interventional calls, including the number, length, content, format and relevance, were considered acceptable by more than 90 % of parents. Conclusions: A brief telephone-based parental intervention to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption in pre-school-aged children may be effective, feasible and acceptable. Further investigation is warranted in a randomised controlled trial.

A cluster randomized controlled trial of a telephone-based parent intervention to increase preschoolers’ fruit and vegetable consumption

“…As such, we recently conducted a pre-post pilot trial and reported a significant postintervention increase in preschoolers’ fruit and vegetable consumption immediately after a 4-contact, telephone-based intervention (20). On the basis of the pilot findings and the broader telephone and health behavior literature (19), we sought to test the longer-term efficacy of the intervention in an appropriately powered randomized controlled trial.…”

Acceptability and feasibility of a parent‐targeted dietary intervention in young survivors of childhood cancer: “Reboot”

“…The average number of days between intervention telephone sessions in our pilot study (n = 14) was double the rate reported in the general pediatric population (n = 7) 34 . Considerably fewer parents completed the intervention within the 4‐week proposed schedule (7/16, 44%) compared with parents in the general pediatric population aged 2‐5 years (34/34, 100%) 34 . Unlike “Healthy Habits,” most of the young survivors whose parents participated in Reboot were of primary school age (19/22) 34,35 .…”

“…We found that parents frequently rescheduled intervention sessions, suggesting that the weekly intervention schedule may be burdensome for families of young survivors. The average number of days between intervention telephone sessions in our pilot study (n = 14) was double the rate reported in the general pediatric population (n = 7) 34 . Considerably fewer parents completed the intervention within the 4‐week proposed schedule (7/16, 44%) compared with parents in the general pediatric population aged 2‐5 years (34/34, 100%) 34 .…”

“…A primary aim of this pilot study was to evaluate whether this intervention design can be implemented successfully in young survivors of childhood cancer using the same methodologies designed for the general pediatric population 34,35 . We found that parents frequently rescheduled intervention sessions, suggesting that the weekly intervention schedule may be burdensome for families of young survivors.…”

“…Considerably fewer parents completed the intervention within the 4‐week proposed schedule (7/16, 44%) compared with parents in the general pediatric population aged 2‐5 years (34/34, 100%) 34 . Unlike “Healthy Habits,” most of the young survivors whose parents participated in Reboot were of primary school age (19/22) 34,35 . Thus, half of the participating parents had returned to part‐ or full‐time employment, which limited their availability to schedule and complete intervention sessions.…”