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Fussy Eating Rescue, a mobile-web app for responsive feeding practises among parents of toddlers: protocol for a
Brittany Reese Markides1, Kylie D Hesketh2, Ralph Maddison2
1Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University Burwood, Victoria, Australia. bmarkides@deakin.edu.au.
Insights
This study evaluated Fussy Eating Rescue, a web app intervention for parents of toddlers with fussy eating behaviours. Results will guide future trials on improving parental feeding practices and child eating habits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric nutrition
- Behavioral science
- Digital health interventions
Background:
- Fussy eating is common in toddlers, affecting up to half of young children.
- Parental concern about fussy eating can lead to nonresponsive feeding practices.
- No digital interventions have been evaluated for parents concerned about toddler fussy eating.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and acceptability of the Fussy Eating Rescue web app.
- To explore potential effects on parental feeding practices and child eating behaviors.
- To inform the design of larger trials for fussy eating interventions.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled feasibility pilot study involving 50 parents of toddlers (12-36 months).
- Intervention group received 6 weeks of access to the Fussy Eating Rescue app; control group was wait-listed.
- Outcomes measured via online questionnaires and app usage statistics, assessing feasibility, acceptability, and secondary outcomes.
Main Results:
- Primary outcomes focus on participant retention, engagement, and app usability.
- Secondary outcomes include changes in parental feeding practices and child eating behaviors.
- Results will determine if the app is a feasible method for engaging parents.
Conclusions:
- The study's findings will indicate the feasibility and acceptability of the Fussy Eating Rescue app.
- If successful, a larger trial will investigate the app's efficacy in improving feeding practices and eating behaviors.
- This research aims to provide a scalable digital solution for a common childhood feeding issue.
Background:
Fussy eating is most often a developmentally typical behaviour, generally presenting during toddlerhood. However, up to half of parents of young children are concerned about fussy eating, and this concern may mediate the use of nonresponsive feeding practises, such as coercive or unstructured feeding and using food to reward eating. Despite the high prevalence of parental concern for fussy eating and the negative impacts nonresponsive feeding practises have on children's health and diets, no previous digital intervention to improve the feeding practises of parents of toddlers concerned about fussy eating has been evaluated.
Aim:
This article describes the protocol of a randomised controlled feasibility pilot aiming to evaluate Fussy Eating Rescue, a purely web app based intervention for parents of toddlers. The primary aim is to investigate feasibility and acceptability; secondary aims are to explore indications of intervention effect on parents' feeding practises or children's eating behaviours.
Methods:
Fussy Eating Rescue features include: (1) a Tracker, that allows parents to track repeated offers of food, (2) Topics, providing information on fussy eating, effective feeding strategies, and general nutrition, (3) Rescues, containing quick references to material supporting Topics contents, (4) Recipes, and (5) SMS notifications. Parents of toddlers (12-36 months old, n = 50) who have concerns about fussy eating will be recruited via Facebook. Parents will be randomised to an intervention group, which receives access to the app for 6 weeks, or to wait-listed control. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline and 6 weeks after app use, using online questionnaires and app usage statistics. Primary outcomes include participant retention rate, intervention engagement, app usability, perceived ease in using the app, perceived usefulness of the app, and user satisfaction. Secondary outcome measures include parents' feeding practises and children's eating behaviours.
Discussion:
Results will inform whether Fussy Eating Rescue is a feasible way to engage parents concerned for their toddler's fussy eating behaviours. If feasible and acceptable to users, a larger trial will further examine the efficacy of the Fussy Eating app in improving parents' feeding practises and children's eating behaviours.
Trial Registration:
Prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry on 15 July, 2021 (ACTRN12621000925842).
