The use of a communication tool about diet at the child health centre: A cluster randomized controlled trial.
Bettina Holmberg Fagerlund, Sølvi Helseth, Lene F Andersen and 2 others
PMID 32587742WHAT IT FOUND
The nurse-led diet communication tool did not lead to different vegetable intake at age 2: 64.5 g versus 68.7 g.
Saturated fat intake and BMI showed no clear difference. Fewer parents wanted more diet information.
Key findings
01Adding the nurse-led diet communication tool to standard child health centre consultations did not produce a between-group difference in children's daily vegetable intake: 64.5 g in intervention children versus 68.7 g in control children.
02Secondary diet outcomes were also not different: mean saturated fat intake was 13.0% of energy in intervention children and 12.9% in control children; median BMI was 16.4 in intervention children and 16.6 in control children.
03A secondary outcome showed that fewer parents wanted more information about food for toddlers: 24.4% in intervention municipalities versus 41.1% in control municipalities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Attrition was high: 232 and 208 parents responded at baseline, but only 140 and 110 completed the end-point questionnaire. The study did not reach the planned 176 children per group needed for 80% power. Completers had somewhat higher parental education than non-completers, so the analysed sample may overrepresent more educated families. The sample underrepresented families with education below upper secondary level and families with immigrant background compared with the general Norwegian population. The process evaluation did not show whether the tool was used to create two-way dialogue or only one-sided information. Information about study outcomes was withheld from nurses during preparation, which the authors suggest may have reduced the intervention effect. The intervention was added to standard child health centre consultations, so any effect cannot be separated from routine counselling.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The image tool was developed in a previous project named SOMAH, cited as The Research Council of Norway, 2013.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower percentage of parents wanting more information as proof that the tool improved children's diet. The primary vegetable intake result was null, and saturated fat intake and BMI were also not different.