The Online Advocate: Health Related Social Problems And Diet Quality Pilot Study

Study Summary

In this study, the investigators will be using The Online Advocate, a Web-based health-related social problems screening and referral tool, to explore the relationship between health-related social problems and children's diet quality among families with young children attending the Children's Hospital Primary Care Center. The Online Advocate consists of a 60-80 question screening survey for health-related social problems (such as food insecurity, employment and income, homelessness) and allows participants to select referrals for local health and social service agencies that might help them with the problems identified through the survey. Layered into The Online Advocate for this study is an adaptation of the Harvard Service Food Frequency Questionnaire (HSFFQ) that can assess children's diet quality. The investigators plan to recruit 350 parent/guardians of otherwise healthy children age 3-10 years who are presenting to the primary care center for routine well child care. Eligible parent/guardians will have the opportunity to take The Online Advocate (plus HSFFQ) on a laptop computer in the waiting area before seeing their pediatrician or healthcare provider. Participants will receive a small incentive for their time as well as written information on healthy nutrition and an age appropriate coloring book for the child. At one month, participants will be contacted by the study team by email or phone and asked follow up questions about the status of their health-related social problems identified through The Online Advocate and whether the referrals they received were helpful. Participants will receive a small incentive for their time, along with a reminder message promoting healthy nutrition for their child. At three months, participants will be contacted by the study team by email or phone and asked follow up questions about the status of their health-related social problems identified through The Online Advocate and whether the referrals they received were helpfu

Primary Outcome

Diet quality will be assessed using the HEI-2005, Healthy Eating Index, applied to the nutritional data collected using the HSFFQ survey. HEI-2005 provides an overall score (scale 0 to 100) and was developed by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion to assess compliance with dietary guidelines.

Interventions

• OTHER The Online Advocate