BackgroundUse of ultra-processed foods has expanded rapidly over the last decades and high consumption has been positively associated with risk of e.g. overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Ultra-processed foods offer convenience as they require minimal time for preparation. It is therefore reasonable to assume that such foods are consumed more often among people who experience time scarcity. The main aim of this study was to investigate the association between time scarcity and consumption of ultra-processed foods among parents of 2-year olds in Norway. A secondary aim was to investigate the association between sociodemographic correlates, weight status and consumption of ultra-processed foods.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 497 participants. Chi-square and cross tabulations were used to calculate proportions of high vs. low consumption of ultra-processed foods in relation to time scarcity, sociodemographic correlates and weight status. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to test the relationship between independent variables and consumption of ultra-processed foods.ResultsParticipants reporting medium and high time scarcity were more likely to have a high consumption of ultra-processed dinner products (OR = 3. 68, 95% CI = 2. 32–5.84 and OR = 3.10, 1.80–5.35, respectively) and fast foods (OR = 2.60, 1.62–4.18 and OR = 1.90, 1.08–3.32, respectively) compared to those with low time scarcity. Further, participants with medium time scarcity were more likely to have a high consumption of snacks and soft drinks compared to participants with low time scarcity (OR = 1.63, 1.06–2.49). Finally, gender, ethnicity, educational level, number of children in the household and weight status were identified as important factors associated with the consumption of certain types of ultra-processed foods.ConclusionsResults from the present study showed that time scarcity, various sociodemographic factors and weight status was associated with consumption of processed foods. Future studies with a longitudinal design are needed to further explore these patterns over a longer period of time.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4408-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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BackgroundThere is concern about the lack of diversity in children’s diets, particularly low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of unhealthy processed food. This may be a factor in the rising prevalence of obesity. A reason for the lack of diversity in children’s diets may be food neophobia. This study aimed to promote a healthy and varied diet among toddlers in kindergarten. The primary objectives were to reduce food neophobia in toddlers, and promote healthy feeding practices among kindergarten staff and parents. Secondary objectives were to increase food variety in toddlers’ diets and reduce future overweight and obesity in these children.MethodsThis is an ongoing, cluster randomized trial. The intervention finished in 2014, but follow-up data collection is not yet complete. Eighteen randomly selected kindergartens located in two counties in Norway with enrolled children born in 2012 participated in the intervention. The kindergartens were matched into pairs based on background information, and randomly assigned to the intervention or control groups.A 9-week multi-component intervention was implemented, with four main elements: 1) kindergarten staff implemented a pedagogical tool (Sapere method) in daily sessions to promote willingness to try new food; 2) kindergarten staff prepared and served the toddlers a cooked lunch from a menu corresponding to the pedagogical sessions; 3) kindergarten staff were encouraged to follow 10 meal principles on modeling, responsive feeding, repeated exposure, and enjoyable meals; and 4) parents were encouraged to read information and apply relevant feeding practices at home. The control group continued their usual practices. Preference taste tests were conducted to evaluate behavioral food neophobia, and children’s height and weight were measured. Parents and staff completed questionnaires before and after the intervention. Data have not yet been analyzed.DiscussionThis study provides new knowledge about whether or not a Sapere-sensory education and healthy meal intervention targeting children, kindergarten staff, and parents will: reduce levels of food neophobia in toddlers; improve parental and kindergarten feeding practices; improve children’s dietary variety; and reduce childhood overweight and obesity.Trial registrationISRCTN74823448 DOI 10.1186/ISRCTN74823448

Background: Children’s first years of life are crucial to their future health. Studies show that a varied diet with a high intake of vegetables is positive in several domains of health. The present low vegetable intake amongst children is, therefore, a concern. Food neophobia is a common barrier to vegetable intake in children. As most Norwegian children attend kindergarten from an early age, kindergartens could contribute to the prevention of food neophobia and the promotion of vegetable intake. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a cluster randomised trial amongst 1-year-old children in kindergarten to reduce food neophobia and promote healthy eating. Methods: Kindergartens were randomly allocated to either a control group or one of two intervention groups. Both intervention groups (diet and diet + Sapere-method) were served a warm lunch meal including three alternating intervention vegetables, whilst the intervention group 2 (diet + Sapere) in addition received tools for weekly sensory lessons. The intervention was digitally administered via information and recipes on a study website. The control group did not receive any information. Parents completed digitally distributed questionnaires addressing food neophobia and food habits at baseline and post-intervention. Results: The parents of 144 1-year-old children in 46 kindergartens completed the questionnaires, which were included in the main analysis. The results suggested a higher intake of the intervention vegetables in group 2 (diet + Sapere) compared to the control group. The effect on total vegetable intake was inconclusive. No effect was observed on the level of food neophobia in either of the intervention group. Conclusion: This digitally delivered dietary and sensory intervention promoted the intake of intervention-targeted vegetables with inconclusive effect on total vegetable intake due to large loss to follow-up. No effect on the level of food neophobia was detected.

Disappointingly few efficacious health interventions are successfully scaled up and implemented in real world settings. This represents an evidence-to-practice gap, with loss of opportunity to improve practice. Aiming to improve nutrition in the first 1000 days of life, we have combined four efficacious dietary interventions into a single adapted digital resource (Nutrition Now) for implementation in a Norwegian community setting. Nutrition Now targets pregnant women and parents of 0–2-year-olds with messages focusing on healthy dietary behaviours. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff are provided with pedagogical tools addressing healthy food exposure and child food acceptance. Objectives: a) evaluate the effectiveness of provision of the Nutrition Now resource on child diet and diet-related outcomes, with special attention to the influence of socio-economic position, b) gather information on the effectiveness of the implementation process to inform forthcoming scale-up and c) perform trial- and model-based economic evaluations. This is a hybrid type 1 implementation study, focusing on evaluation of effectiveness. A quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-tests, where one municipality gets access to the resource (n~800), while a matched non-equivalent control municipality (n~800) does not, will be used. Effectiveness will be assessed by examining e.g., diet outcomes, developmental outcomes, and feeding practices. The resource will be implemented in ECEC settings and made available to pregnant women and parents through the Norwegian system of maternal and child health (MCH) care. The implementation process includes iterative adjustments and implementation strategies from the implementation framework Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) informed by dialogues with stakeholders. Implementation outcomes (e.g., acceptability and adoption) will be assessed through questionnaires and interviews with parents, ECEC and MCH staff, with particular attention to ethnic diverse groups. Both within-trial and modelling-based economic evaluation will be performed. Nutrition Now will bridge the existing evidence-to-practice gap through rigorous scientific effectiveness evaluation of municipal scale up and inform subsequent county scale up. The study is the first to implement efficacious nutrition interventions in early life with potential for health improvement using technology to maximise the reach and impact of both parental and MCH dietary guidance and ECEC practice.Clinical Trial Registrationhttps://www.isrctn.com/, identified ISRCTN10694967.