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A pilot study of a telephone-based parental intervention to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in 3-5-year-old
Rebecca Wyse1, Luke Wolfenden, Elizabeth Campbell
1Faculty of Health, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. rebecca.wyse@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Insights
A brief telephone intervention effectively increased children's fruit and vegetable intake. Parents found the program feasible and acceptable, suggesting potential for wider use in promoting healthy eating habits.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Nutrition
- Childhood Obesity Prevention
- Behavioral Intervention
Background:
- Low fruit and vegetable consumption is a significant public health concern in preschool-aged children.
- Parental involvement is crucial for establishing healthy dietary patterns in early childhood.
- Innovative, accessible intervention delivery methods are needed to support parental behavior change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief, telephone-based parental intervention on increasing fruit and vegetable intake in 3-5-year-old children.
- To assess the feasibility and parent acceptability of delivering this intervention via telephone.
Main Methods:
- A pre-post study design involving 34 parents of preschool-aged children.
- Parents received four 30-minute scripted telephone calls over 4 weeks.
- Intervention content focused on home availability, parental role modeling, and family eating routines.
Main Results:
- Significant increases in the frequency and variety of children's fruit and vegetable consumption were observed post-intervention (P = 0.027).
- The intervention demonstrated high feasibility, with 100% of participants completing all calls.
- Over 90% of parents found all aspects of the intervention (content, format, relevance) acceptable.
Conclusions:
- A brief telephone-based parental intervention shows promise for improving preschool children's fruit and vegetable intake.
- The intervention is feasible to deliver and highly acceptable to parents.
- Further research, including randomized controlled trials, is recommended to confirm efficacy.
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 = 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.
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