Grant Number:	5R21CA123140-02 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Briley, Margaret
Organization:	University Of Texas At Austin
Project Title:	Increasing Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains in Preschool Sack Lunches
Fiscal Year:	2009

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More than 60% of preschool children in the US eat one or more of their daily meals in a childcare setting. Although there are childcare centers continuing to provide meals to children, a growing trend is for centers to discontinue their meal program and require that parents provide sack lunches for their children. Preliminary data indicate these packed lunches are low in servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. With the growing issue of child overweight, consumption of meals low in high nutrient foods as recommended in the Dietary Guidelines can lead to the development of poor eating habits that can persist over time. The primary aim of this study is to revise, implement and evaluate a behaviorally-based intervention, the Lunch Box Program, to increase the servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains parents pack in preschool child lunches. This study will be implemented in three phases. Phase 1 (months 1 through 6 of the project) includes a planning meeting with a select advisory group as well focus groups with child care personnel and focus groups with parents to adapt the Lunch Box Program (LBP) with a behavioral focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains as well as editing and evaluation of tools to measure program-specific behavioral outcomes (e.g., parents' expectations and intentions for packing more fruits, vegetables and whole grains in the lunches). Phase 2 (months 6 through 10) includes focus testing and finalizing adaptations to the LBP as well as recruitment of families to participate in a pilot of the adapted LBP. In Phase 3 (months 11 through 19), a pilot of the adapted LBP will be conducted with the participation of 40 families at 3 childcare centers randomly assigned to intervention and 40 families at 3 centers assigned to comparison. The intervention will be conducted over a 6 week period, with pre- and post-tests consisting of observations of the sack lunches and parent questionnaires. Process data also will be collected to evaluate dose, fidelity and feasibility of the intervention for sustainable implementation in childcare settings. Results from the pilot will be used to determine Interclass Correlation Coefficient for detectable effect computations to power an R01 with a group randomized design using childcare center as the unit of randomization and child's parent as the unit of analysis.




Development of a Method to Observe Preschoolers' Packed Lunches in Early Care and Education Centers.
Authors: Sweitzer S.J. , Byrd-Williams C.E. , Ranjit N. , Romo-Palafox M.J. , Briley M.E. , Roberts-Gray C.R. , Hoelscher D.M. .
Source: Journal Of The Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics, 2015 Aug; 115(8), p. 1249-59.
PMID: 25975458
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Unbundling outcomes of a multilevel intervention to increase fruit, vegetables, and whole grains parents pack for their preschool children in sack lunches.
Authors: Briley M.E. , Ranjit N. , Hoelscher D.M. , Sweitzer S.J. , Almansour F. , Roberts-Gray C. .
Source: American Journal Of Health Education / American Alliance For Health, Physical Education, Recreation, And Dance, 2012 May; 43(3), p. 135-142.
PMID: 23243631
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Psychosocial outcomes of Lunch is in the Bag, a parent program for packing healthful lunches for preschool children.
Authors: Sweitzer S.J. , Briley M.E. , Roberts-Gray C. , Hoelscher D.M. , Harrist R.B. , Staskel D.M. , Almansour F.D. .
Source: Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior, 2011 Nov-Dec; 43(6), p. 536-42.
PMID: 21852196
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Temperature of foods sent by parents of preschool-aged children.
Authors: Almansour F.D. , Sweitzer S.J. , Magness A.A. , Calloway E.E. , McAllaster M.R. , Roberts-Gray C.R. , Hoelscher D.M. , Briley M.E. .
Source: Pediatrics, 2011 Sep; 128(3), p. 519-23.
PMID: 21824878
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How to help parents pack better preschool sack lunches: advice from parents for educators.
Authors: Sweitzer S.J. , Briley M.E. , Roberts-Gray C. , Hoelscher D.M. , Staskel D.M. , Almansour F.D. .
Source: Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior, 2011 May-Jun; 43(3), p. 194-8.
PMID: 21550534
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Lunch is in the bag: increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches of preschool-aged children.
Authors: Sweitzer S.J. , Briley M.E. , Roberts-Gray C. , Hoelscher D.M. , Harrist R.B. , Staskel D.M. , Almansour F.D. .
Source: Journal Of The American Dietetic Association, 2010 Jul; 110(7), p. 1058-64.
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