SmartFeeding4Kids, an online self-guided parenting intervention to promote positive feeding practices and healthy diet in young children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Caregivers’ influence on young children’s eating behaviors is widely recognized. Nutritional interventions that focus on the promotion of children’s healthy diet should actively involve parents, focusing on their feeding behaviors and practices. METHODS: This work aims to describe the development and study protocol of the SmartFeeding4Kids (SF4K) program, an online self-guided 7-session intervention for parents of young (2–6 years old) children. The program is informed by social cognitive, self-regulation, and habit formation theoretical models and uses self-regulatory techniques as self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback to promote behavior change. We propose to examine the intervention efficacy on children’s intake of fruit, vegetables, and added sugars, and parental feeding practices with a two-arm randomized controlled with four times repeated measures design (baseline, immediately, 3 and 6 months after intervention). Parental perceived barriers about food and feeding, food parenting self-efficacy, and motivation to change will be analyzed as secondary outcomes. The study of the predictors of parents’ dropout rates and the trajectories of parents’ and children’s outcomes are also objectives of this work. DISCUSSION: The SmartFeeding4Kids program relies on technological resources to deliver parents’ self-regulation techniques that proved effective in promoting health behaviors. The study design can enhance the knowledge about the most effective methodologies to change parental feeding practices and children’s food intake. As a self-guided online program, SmartFeeding4Kids might overcome parents’ attrition more effectively, besides being easy to disseminate and cost-effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04591496) on October 19, 2020. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05897-z.