Study

Many U.S. children and adults drink too many sugary drinks. There are many health risks of drinking too many sugary drinks.

The weSIPsmarter study team has been working to find ways to help people decrease sugary drinks since 2010. Their research started with an in-person program that helped many adults decrease their sugary drinks, lose some weight, and improve their health in other ways. Given these positive findings, the research team wanted to make the program available to more people.

The weSIPsmarter program is the modern-day version of the in-person program that helps caregivers of preschool-aged children decrease their sugary drinks! Since the weSIPsmarter program is web-based, more people can access them.

weSIPsmarter is web-based and will help caregivers learn:
•    types of sugary drinks
•    sugary drink recommendations
•    health risks of sugary drinks
•    how to read nutrition labels
•    strategies to decrease the sugary drinks for themselves and their child 

The weSIPsmarter Program uses:
•    six digital interactive lessons with information and activities about sugary drinks
•    daily tracking of sugary drinks for caregivers and their child
•    emails and other reminders to complete lessons and activities
•    optional tracking of caregiver’s weight

Enrolled caregivers use the program for 9 weeks and complete health assessments at the time they join the program and again at 9 weeks and 12 months. Caregivers may sign in and use the program as often as they want.

You are eligible to join the study if you:
•    Have a child aged 2-5 years who is enrolled in Head Start
•    Speak and read English
•    Have regular access (at least once a week) to the Internet on a computer, tablet, or smartphone
•    Are able and willing to check emails regularly for reminders about program tasks
•    Are able and willing to receive text messages

You may or may not benefit from being in this study.  

Possible benefits include learning how to decrease your and your child’s sugary drinks.

Decreasing sugary drinks may help prevent or improve health conditions such as weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, tooth decay, and some types of cancers. However, the weSIPsmarter program is not intended to treat any of these conditions.

To thank you for your time, you will get up to $175 in gift cards for completing assessments at:
•    Enrollment: $50 gift card
•    9-week follow-up: $50 gift card
•    12-month follow-up: $75 gift card

Also, the scale that is mailed to you (valued at $120) is yours to keep.

The research team is committed to protecting caregiver and child privacy. Here is how privacy is protected:

1. 1. The information you submit is stored on a secured server. These servers meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule protections.
   2. The weSIPsmarter server is maintained by the Information and Technology Communication staff at the University of Virginia. The staff assesses the network structure to make sure the latest security technology software is being used.
   3. Only a few authorized research staff have access to these servers. Staff who can access your data is limited to researchers closely involved with weSIPsmarter. All research staff have completed Institutional Review Board (IRB) training.
   4. weSIPsmarter has been reviewed and approved by the University of Virginia IRB. Federal regulations regarding human research studies require this. The primary role of the IRB is to protect the safety and welfare of human participants.