Supper Heroes: Examining the Impact of an Online Eating Intervention for Families

Supper Heroes: Randomized Controlled Trial to Examine the Impact of an Online Environmentally Friendly Eating Intervention for Families

This study will examine the effectiveness of the online family-based program focused on sustainable eating compared to weekly emails about environmentally friendly behaviours.

The investigators will conduct a family-level RCT following CONSORT guidelines: families will be randomly allocated into control and intervention groups. The control group will receive an email once a week for 7 weeks with information about environmentally friendly habits.

The intervention group will participate in the 7-week online Supper Heroes program consisting of 7 online "missions" completed over 7 weeks. Each mission includes tasks for families to complete, including reading infographics, watching short videos, participating in family-based activities, and sharing their progress. Parents will receive 2 text messages each week with information about the program. Families will also receive a toolkit to support their participation which will contain cookbooks, a potato brush, grocery planning tools, and a note that orients them to what is included. It will take approximately 1-2 hours per mission to complete all activities.

• Infographics: Each mission will contain brief, 1-2-page infographics for families to read. Topics are related to the mission theme for that week. For example, families may learn about tips for grocery shopping and meal planning as well as information about plant-based proteins.
• Videos: Similar to the infographics, short, 1-5-minute online videos will be related to the theme of the mission participants are completing. For example, families will watch a short, animated video about grocery shopping.
• Family-based activities: During each mission, participants will be invited to participate in a family-based activity such as follow-along cooking videos, doing an audit of their fridge, and creating a grocery shopping list.
• Sharing: Families will be asked to share their experiences for each mission on an online community share board by providing a photo and/or text.

Inclusion Criteria:

• have at least one child 9-12 years old
• live in Ontario, Canada
• have access to the internet
• can respond to English surveys

Exclusion Criteria:

• parent(s) with prior nutrition and food education (e.g., degree in nutrition, culinary arts training)
• families with food allergies that would prevent them from participating in the intervention (e.g., soy products, beans or lentils)
• families who are vegetarian or vegan