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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02354157

The Nutritional Effect of Parental Use of Food as a Reward

Control rules are common parental practices that use food as reward to encourage children to conduct parents' preferred behaviors. This field observational study aims to examine whether control rules are associated with children's increased fat, carbohydrate and total energy intake in everyday eating, and whether this effect is moderated by individual differences in sensitivity to reward, and by gender differences.

Completed

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Key information

Conditions

Children's Nutrition Intake

Age range

6 year–12 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

About this study

Control rules are parental practices that use food as an instrumental reinforcer to encourage children to behave in a normative manner in non-food domains. Since food high in fat or sugar is usually chosen as a reinforcer for control rules, these rules may lead to children's increased preference and every day intake of food high in sugar/fat. Research propositions were examined in 207 six to twelve-year-old children (97 boys and 110 girls). Their parents reported the children's everyday dietary intake through a food frequency questionnaire, and provided information regarding the children's sensitivity to rewards as well as an indication of how frequently they enforce family control rules.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • participants have 6-12 years old children

Exclusion criteria

  • N.A.

Treatment and study plan

No intervention

Other

no intervention

Primary outcomes

  1. Food Frequency Questionnaire

    Time frame: last month recall

    A web-based Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to aske participants' parents to recall their children's food intake over the last month based on a list of 136 individual food items or food clusters, which covered eight categories of food and beverages. For each individual food item or cluster, participants were asked to indicate how frequently their children consumed that food and the typical portion size.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

McGill University

Other

Collaborators

  • Dalhousie University

Registry information

Official study title

Field Observation of Adverse Nutritional Effect of Parental Use of Food as a Reinforcer for Non-food Related Behavior

Important dates

Study start
2013
Primary completion
2013
Study completion
2013
First posted
Feb 3, 2015
Registry last updated
Feb 3, 2015

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.