A Nutrition Intervention to Promote the Consumption of Pulse-Based Foods in Childcare Centers: Protocol for a Multimethod Study

BACKGROUND: Plant-based foods, including pulses (dry beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas), have gained worldwide attention owing to their health and environmental benefits. Despite high production, the consumption of pulses is low in Canada. Behavior change interventions systematically designed to promote the consumption of pulse-based foods are scarce. OBJECTIVE: We describe the utilization of intervention mapping (IM) in the development of a multicomponent nutrition intervention aimed at promoting consumption of pulse-based foods among preschool children in childcare centers in Saskatchewan, Canada. METHODS: The Pulse Discovery Toolkit intervention was developed following the six steps of the IM protocol. Decisions at each step were either based upon literature review, expert consultation, pretesting, or a combination of these. Following the initial phase of the study, which focused on intervention development, phases II and III of the study were concerned with pilot testing and roll-out of the intervention, respectively. In total, one, two, and four childcare centers participated in phases I, II, and III, respectively. A multimethod approach was designed to evaluate the intervention during pilot testing and roll-out. RESULTS: The application of IM steps 1 to 3 in phase I resulted in the creation of performance objectives at different levels, including at the individual level (preschool children), and the social and environmental levels (parents, early childhood educators, and cooks). These objectives were then used to create a matrix of objectives matching the constructs of the social cognitive theory while taking Piaget cognitive development into consideration. This step was followed by defining program components, implementation, adoption, and evaluation strategies, which were utilized in phases II and III. Data have been collected from 2015 to 2018 and analyzed. The results will be reported elsewhere. CONCLUSIONS: The IM protocol provided a rigorous framework for the development of a multicomponent evidence-based intervention to promote pulse-based foods in childcare centers. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/22775