Baby-Feed Pilot Trial for Improving Diet and Weight Gain in Infants and Toddlers

To pilot test the initial efficacy of the Baby-Feed website for improving infant diet quality (main outcome) and weight gain (exploratory outcome) compared to usual care.

This was a 3-month randomized clinical trial, in which two healthcare providers and 50 caregivers of healthy-term infants (4-12 months) in a community health center were recruited. Participants were randomized to usual care or access to the Baby-Feed website, which assesses infants' diets, provides automated results, and delivers feedback. Measures were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study: diet quality from a validated infant food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), self-reported weight/length to calculate rate of weight gain, and a validated self-efficacy questionnaire. Changes were compared using analysis of covariance or Chi-square/Fisher's Exact test.

Baseline characteristics were similar between groups (n = 25 intervention; n = 25 control). Most caregivers were mothers (92%) and Hispanic (86%). Change in total diet quality scores was higher in the intervention (-2.95 ± 6.53) vs. controls (-7.69 ± 7.84; p = 0.031). Healthy weight gain was higher in the intervention group (n = 21, 95%) vs. controls (n = 14, 58%; p = 0.006). Changes in the self-efficacy score for promoting healthy foods were associated with changes in the fruit score (r = 0.46; p = 0.03), and changes in the self-efficacy score for limiting unhealthy foods were associated with changes in the juice score (r = 0.45; p = 0.04) only in the intervention group.

Using Baby-Feed for 3 months improved diet quality and the rate of weight gain compared with controls in this small and short pilot trial. A larger, longer trial with a more diverse population is needed to confirm the results.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ : NCT05062824.