Combining Effect and Process Evaluation on European Preschool Children's Snacking Behavior in a Kindergarten-Based, Family-Involved Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial: The ToyBox Study

De Craemer, Marieke; Verbestel, Vera; Verloigne, Maite; Androutsos, Odysseas; Moreno, Luis; Iotova, Violeta; Koletzko, Berthold; Socha, Piotr; Manios, Yannis und Cardon, Greet (2020): Combining Effect and Process Evaluation on European Preschool Children's Snacking Behavior in a Kindergarten-Based, Family-Involved Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial: The ToyBox Study. In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Bd. 17, Nr. 19, 7312

Abstract

This study aimed at (1) studying the effect of the standardized ToyBox intervention on European preschoolers' snacking behavior, and (2) studying whether a higher process evaluation score from teachers and parents/caregivers was associated with a more positive result for preschoolers' snack intake. A sample of 4970 preschoolers (51.4% boys, 4.74 +/- 0.44 years) from six European countries provided information on snack intake with the use of a Food Frequency Questionnaire. To investigate the effect of the intervention, multilevel repeated measures analyses were executed for the total sample and the six country-specific samples. Furthermore, questionnaires to measure process evaluation were used to compute a total process evaluation score for teachers and parents/caregivers. No significant intervention effects on preschoolers' snack intake were found (all p > 0.003). In general, no different effects of the intervention on snack intake were found according to kindergarten teachers' and parents'/caregivers' process evaluation scores. The lack of effects could be due to limited intervention duration and dose. To induce larger effects on preschoolers' snack intake, a less standardized intervention which is more tailored to the local needs might be needed.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• Sprache: Englisch