About this trial
The goal of this crossover randomized controlled trial is to develop a proxy reporting protocol for a traditional 24-hour dietary recall (24HR) and an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) assisted 24-HR for use among children between the ages of 2 and 5 years. The main aims are to:
1. Assess the usability and feasibility of each proxy-reporting protocol and dietary assessment methodology. 2. Describe the dietary misreporting captured using each proxy-reporting protocol, and 3. Explore the accuracy of energy intake estimation of the 24HR and EMA+24HR methods, compared to objectively measured food intake.
During the research study, participants will:
1. Be provided with one meal and two snacks each day to provide to their child on three consecutive days. Foods can be offered to their child at times of their choosing, and leftovers will be placed back into reusable food storage containers to be picked up by research study staff. Uneaten foods will be weighed for an objective measure of intake. 2. The day after study-provided foods are given to the child, the adult caregiver will complete a proxy-reported 24HR phone call with a trained research assistant. 3. In the EMA+24HR condition, caregivers will be provided access to an online platform where they will upload pre- and post-photographs of all of their child's eating occasions across the three days that study-provided foods are eaten.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Adult caregiver ≥ 18 years old
Absence of food allergies or dietary restrictions for medical reasons (for the child)
Caregiver reports child likes at least 70% of the study-provided foods from the pre-defined list of food options
Caregiver has access to a smartphone device compatible with the EMA platform
Disqualifiers
Caregiver unwilling to feed study-provided foods to their child
Caregiver unwilling to take pre-and-post photos of child's eating occasions
Caregiver unwilling or unable to identify a second adult caregiver meeting the eligibility criteria
Caregiver and child reside in a separate household for > 2 days per week
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Ecological Momentary Assessment
- Traditional 24-hour dietary recall