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NCT Number: NCT07290179

Evaluating the Validity and Feasibility of a Smartwatch-based Eating Detection System to Passively and Automatically Detect Eating Events in Child-parent Dyads

This study will test the validity and feasibility of an smartwatch-based system to detect eating and drinking events in both laboratory and free-living conditions.

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Key information

Conditions

Eating Behavior Behavior Behavior, Animal Feeding Behavior

Age range

8 year–12 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70808, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Hanim E Diktas, PhD

CONTACT

About this study

The study will: 1) determine whether the smartwatch-based system accurately detects eating events in child-parent dyads in controlled settings and 2) evaluate the feasibility and practicality of passively detecting eating events in child-parent dyads over 3 days in free-living settings. The study will include two phases. During the laboratory visit, child-parent dyads will wear the smartwatch on their dominant hand and perform activities including eating gestures. These activities will be recorded with a video camera, and the videos will be coded for the ground truth times of eating. In the second phase of the study, child-parent dyads will continue wearing the smartwatch for 3 more days in free-living conditions. In the free-living period, parents will receive personalized Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) prompts reminding them to activate the smartwatch.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Parents or caregivers (18-70 years) who have children aged 8-12 years
  • Child is willing and able to wear smartwatch during school hours (have not restrictions in the school setting)

Exclusion criteria

  • Any condition or circumstance that could impede study completion
  • Child does not follow a regular eating pattern
  • Child eats less than 1 meal and 1 snack in a day
  • Child is restricted or allergic to the study foods
  • Refusal or unable to use the smartwatch to collect data for the 3-day period in free - living conditions
  • Parental refusal or unable to respond Ecological Momentary Assessment prompts

Treatment and study plan

Smartwatch and EMA-based eating behavior tracking

Other

Participants (child-parent dyads) will wear a smartwatch on their dominant hand during a laboratory session and for three days in free-living conditions. In the lab, dyads will perform eating-related activities (e.g., eating with utensils, eating with hands, drinking) and non-eating activities (e.g., walking, writing, brushing teeth) while being video recorded for ground truth validation. Parents will receive a 20-minute training on using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) prompts to record meal and snack times and will respond to EMA reminders during the free-living period. Adherence will be monitored through smartwatch wear time and EMA response rates.

Primary outcomes

  1. Accuracy and Performance of Smartwatch-based Eating Detection System in Controlled Conditions

    Time frame: During the controlled laboratory session (Day 1).

    Accuracy and performance of smartwatch-based system for detecting eating and drinking events compared to video-coded ground truth during a controlled laboratory conditions. Metrics include:

    Precision (proportion of correctly detected eating events among all detected events), Recall/Sensitivity (proportion of actual eating events detected), Specificity (proportion of non-eating events correctly identified as non-eating) F1-score (harmonic mean of precision and recall), Overall accuracy (proportion of correct classification).

  2. Adherence to Smartwatch Protocol

    Time frame: During the free-living phase (Days 2-4).

    Proportion of families meeting adherence criteria, defined as both parent and child wearing the smartwatch during eating on at least 2 of 3 days and the parent responding to ≥75% of EMA prompts related to smartwatch charging and app functionality.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Hanim E Diktas, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(225) 763-2832

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Dec 18, 2025
Registry last updated
Jun 11, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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