weSIPsmarter: Evaluating a Digital Health Intervention Aimed at Reducing Sugary Drinks Among Rural Head Start Preschoolers and Their Parents

Conditions

• Sugary Beverages

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

2 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• weSIPsmarter — BEHAVIORAL
  weSIPsmarter is grounded by the Theory of Planned Behavior as well as Satter's Feeding Dynamic Model. weSIPsmarter will also integrate relevant behavior change techniques and target concepts from health literacy, health numerary, media literacy, and eHealth literacy.
• weLearn2Read — BEHAVIORAL
  weLearn2Read participants will have access to a website with resources to improve reading readiness, including 6 structured parent lessons, setting reading goals, and 6 children's books (one mailed home each week), and options to receive weekly reminders (e.g., email or text) to encourage reading readiness.

Study Details

This study will include 12 rural Head Start programs, randomly assigned to one of two groups: weSIPsmarter vs. control. The main goal is to find out if weSIPsmarter helps reduce sugary drink consumption in preschool-aged children and their parents.

Key Dates

Start date

Aug 6, 2025

Status verified

Nov 2025

Primary completion

Feb 1, 2028

Completion

Feb 1, 2029

Study Design

Enrollment

744 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Arms

• Experimental: weSIPsmarter
  weSIPsmarter, targets parents as the agent of change and will be a highly interactive, structured program. It will consist of multiple evidence-based behavioral change components, including use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to encourage self-monitoring of beverage behaviors and parenting feeding practices, goal setting and action planning, a resource help line, and drinking water vouchers for families with concerns related to in-home tap water quality. weSIPsmarter participants will be engaged in completing six Cores, tracking daily sugary drink intake for parents and child, and completing daily weigh-ins for parents only.
• Other: weLearn2Read
  weLearn2Read participants will be engaged in completing six Cores. Participants will also receive 6 children's books, matched to each Core, which will be mailed to the participants' homes. Parents in the weLearn2Read control can also opt to receive reminders (email or text) to encourage reading readiness.

Primary Outcome Measure

Child sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) ounces [ Time Frame: Baseline and 9 weeks ]

Central Contacts

• Jamie Zoellner, PhD RD
  (434) 924-5999
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Christiansburg, VA