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Trial registered on ANZCTR

Registration number

ACTRN12618001173280

Ethics application status

Approved

Date submitted

13/07/2018

Date registered

16/07/2018

Date last updated

15/10/2018

Type of registration

Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs

Public title

Understanding how cost, time and support from others influence the foods parents choose to give to their child

Scientific title

Understanding aspects of physical and social opportunity impacting on parents of 3 to 7 year old food provision: A discrete choice experiment

Secondary ID [1]

Nil known

Universal Trial Number (UTN)

Trial acronym

Linked study record

Health condition

Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:

Childhood obesity

Condition category

Condition code

Diet and Nutrition

Obesity

Intervention/exposure

Study type

Observational

Patient registry

False

Target follow-up duration

Target follow-up type

Description of intervention(s) / exposure

This study is a discrete choice experiment which contains a number of choice tasks (a type of single-answer question) that requires parents to choose between two hypothetical snack options or the neither (opt-out) option. The two snack options will vary in their attributes (i.e. cost, time, support from child, co-parent and friends, and the type of food). The context for this snack provision includes social occasions where family friends are present (experimental condition) versus everyday occasions without family friends present (control condition).

The study aims to examine the attributes (cost, time, support from child, co-parent, friends and type of food) that are most important to parents’ when choosing snacks to give their 3 to 7 year old children, in social occasions (experimental condition) versus everyday occasions (control condition).

Parents will take part in an online survey containing the discrete choice experiment and questions regarding the explanatory variables and parent and child characteristics. They will be randomised within the survey tool to the experimental condition or control condition, followed by a break activity (wash out period), before being presented with the alternative condition.

The discrete choice experiment design generated using NGene software was total of 20 choice tasks per condition. Each participant will be randomly allocated to complete one of 4 experimental choice sets (containing 5 choice tasks) and one of 4 control choice sets (containing 5 choice tasks). After parents are randomised to the experimental or control condition in the online survey they are again randomised to see one of the 4 choice sets.
Each parent will complete a total of 10 choice tasks (5 per condition). Each parent’s involvement will take approximately 30mins, once-off, and completely online.

By observing parents snack choices in different conditions using the discrete choice experiment, researchers are able to construct utility weights. These utility weights represent the value individuals attach to each of the attributes (cost, time, support from child, co-parent and friends, and type of food). This allow for an estimation of the relative importance of each attribute, and comparisons of the ranking of attribute importance between the two conditions (social occasions vs everyday).

Intervention code [1]

Early Detection / Screening

Comparator / control treatment

The comparator for this study is the choice decisions in the everyday occasions without family friends present (control condition).

Control group

Active

Outcomes

Primary outcome [1]

Attribute utility weights in social occasions

The statistical analysis of the choice data (choice decisions and corresponding attribute levels) will involve multinomial logit model to determine the utility weights that will be used to determine the relative importance of the attributes.

Timepoint [1]

At time of data collection

Secondary outcome [1]

Attribute utility weights in everyday occasions

The statistical analysis of the choice data (choice decisions and corresponding attribute levels) will involve multinomial logit model to determine the utility weights that will be used to determine the relative importance of the attributes.

Timepoint [1]

At time of data collection

Eligibility

Key inclusion criteria

Parents of 3 to 7 year olds, fluent in English, aged 18 years or over, residing in Australia, who are primarily responsible for preparing their child's food.

Minimum age

18 Years

Maximum age

No limit

Sex

Both males and females

Can healthy volunteers participate?

Yes

Key exclusion criteria

Parents of children outside of the specified age range (less than 3.0 or greater or equal to 8.0 years) at the time of the study.

Study design

Purpose

Natural history

Duration

Cross-sectional

Selection

Defined population

Timing

Prospective

Statistical methods / analysis

The sample size estimates indicate approximately 150 parents based on an orthogonal main effects experimental design, assuming 2 choices and an opt-out, and six attributes (cost, time, support from child, co-parent, friends, type of food) with 2-3 attribute levels. This estimate is based on the rule of thumb proposed by Johnson and Orme (2003; cited in de Bekker-Grob et al. 2015) N > 500c / (t x a). Where t is the number of choice tasks (9), a is the number of alternatives (2) and c is the number of analysis cells; therefore a minimum sample of (500 x 3) / (9 x 2) = 111.

The discrete choice experiment choice outputs from the everyday and social occasions will be analysed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model analyses to determine the relative utility weights (coefficient) for cost, time, support from child, co-parents and friends, and type of food. These analyses will be repeated in subgroups of participants based on various parent and child characteristics based on the sub-group sample sizes collected (e.g. parent education level). Explanatory variables (child’s temperament, parent’s self-efficacy) will be captured by the inclusion of interaction terms in the models.

Recruitment

Recruitment status

Completed

Date of first participant enrolment

Anticipated

23/07/2018

Actual

25/07/2018

Date of last participant enrolment

Anticipated

30/09/2018

Actual

20/09/2018

Date of last data collection

Anticipated

30/09/2018

Actual

20/09/2018

Sample size

Target

150

Accrual to date

Final

225

Recruitment in Australia

Recruitment state(s)

ACT,NSW,NT,QLD,SA,TAS,WA,VIC

Funding & Sponsors

Funding source category [1]

University

Name [1]

Flinders University Research Scholarship and Top-Up Scholarship

Address [1]

Flinders University, Sturt Rd, Bedford Park, SA 5042

Country [1]

Australia

Funding source category [2]

Charities/Societies/Foundations

Name [2]

King & Amy O'Malley Trust Postgraduate Scholarship

Address [2]

King & Amy O'Malley Trust, PO Box 120, Camberwell, VIC 3124

Country [2]

Australia

Primary sponsor type

University

Name

Flinders University

Address

Flinders University, Sturt Rd, Bedford Park, SA 5042

Country

Australia

Secondary sponsor category [1]

University

Name [1]

University of South Australia

Address [1]

Institute for Choice, Level 13, 140 Arthur Street, North Sydney NSW 2060

Country [1]

Australia

Secondary sponsor category [2]

Government body

Name [2]

Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation

Address [2]

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Building, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5000

Country [2]

Australia

Ethics approval

Ethics application status

Approved

Ethics committee name [1]

Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee

Ethics committee address [1]

Flinders University, Sturt Rd, Bedford Park, SA 5042

Ethics committee country [1]

Australia

Date submitted for ethics approval [1]

21/05/2018

Approval date [1]

05/07/2018

Ethics approval number [1]

8043

Summary

Brief summary

Globally children's intake of unhealthy foods and beverages is excessive, contributing to weight gain and risk of obesity. There is a lack of research focusing on unhealthy foods with majority of past research focused on increasing healthy foods in the hope that unhealthy foods will also decrease, which has not been the case (Johnson et al., accepted). Parents play a key role in what children eat (Yee et al. 2017). Understanding the physical and social opportunity influences on parents’ food provision will help to guide future intervention content to support parents to make healthy food choices for their children. 

This project aims to explore the influence of physical* and social^ opportunity on parents’ unhealthy food provision choices for their 3-7 year old children. The project is focused on understanding the influence of parents’ physical opportunity, in terms of cost and time, and social opportunity, in terms of support from their child, co-parent and friends. The project will also determine whether the influence of physical and social opportunity on parental food provision differs in social occasions. To achieve the project aim a discrete choice experiment will be administered via an online survey to investigate parents’ hypothetical food provision in social and everyday occasions, where the food options vary in terms of the cost, time to prepare, support from child, significant family members and friends, and type of food (nutritional value). 

The discrete choice experiment contains a number of choice tasks (a type of single-answer question) which involves parents choosing between two hypothetical snack options or the neither (opt-out) option. The two snack options will vary in their attributes (e.g. cost, time, support from child, co-parent and friends, and the type of food). 

* Physical opportunity = the physical resources a parent has available, such as money (cost) and time.
^ Social opportunity = what is afforded by the social environment, such as support (or resistance/opposition) from the child, co-parent, extended family and friends.

Trial website

Trial related presentations / publications

Public notes

Contacts

Principal investigator

Name

Ms Brittany Johnson

Address

College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 8 8204 7075

Fax

brittany.johnson@flinders.edu.au

Contact person for public queries

Name

Brittany Johnson

Address

College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 8 8204 7075

Fax

brittany.johnson@flinders.edu.au

Contact person for scientific queries

Name

Brittany Johnson

Address

College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 8 8204 7075

Fax

brittany.johnson@flinders.edu.au

No information has been provided regarding IPD availability

What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided

Results publications and other study-related documents

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No additional documents have been identified.

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