Research update | Reboot Kids
2021-12-02
Reboot Kids is a pilot program funded by The Kids' Cancer Project and being tested to help families affected by childhood cancer to navigate this important aspect of post-treatment care – redeveloping and maintaining a healthy diet.
Preliminary data analysed showed that due to physical and metabolic changes brought about by treatment, young cancer survivors don’t eat a big enough variety of fruits and can miss out on important vitamins and minerals.
Discover more: Research Project Reboot-Kids
Dr Lauren Winkler, the Reboot Kids Study Coordinator at The Behavioural Sciences Unit, Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick says that despite challenges presented by the pandemic, important milestones are being met. Lauren says:
COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns threatened to disrupt many research projects around Australia in 2020 and 2021...But I’m proud to say the Reboot Kids team were able to continue their work providing much needed nutritional support to young cancer survivors and their families.
Study recruitment on track
Since launching Reboot Kids in June 2020, the team has recruited 32 parents into the program and the halfway mark of recruiting to a total sample size of 80 is in sight. Lauren says:
In all, 18 of the 32 participating parents have completed a pre and post survey and eight of the 32 parents are still actively working through the program.
We continue to receive very positive feedback from our participating families.
Kate, a Reboot Kids participant shares how the program encouraged her daughters to make healthy choices, particularly as one is a survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She explains:
We have really enjoyed the program and it was exactly the push we needed...We now always keep some chocolate bliss balls in the fridge for treats.
Afternoon snacks are now prepared and healthier plus the kids are loving cooking and eating more of a variety of fresh vegetables.
Hooray!
With participants hailing from all around the country, the sample size has largely been from New South Wales. To address this, Lauren sought out a specialist in Melbourne who could spread the word in Victoria. Lauren explains:
We engaged Kristin Mellett, a senior oncology dietitian at Monash Children’s Hospital...She is actively recruiting families in her state and already we have had one Monash parent complete the program.
Evaluating success
Reviewing online data to determine whether parents complete the program is one metric of success for the study but being able to hear first-hand experiences is another important aspect to build a wholistic viewpoint. Lauren continues:
We recently received full ethics approval to invite Reboot Kids parents to take part in a brief program evaluation telephone interview...This qualitative data will be analysed by a fourth-year medical student from UNSW Sydney as part of his dissertation.
Kevin Woo, will be joining us and evaluating the parent experiences of participating in a hybrid online/telephone dietary program for young survivors of childhood cancer.
Reboot Kids across the ditch
Because children’s cancer is considered a rare disease, international collaborations are vital to learn more about the disease and how to treat it effectively.
We have an exciting opportunity to introduce Reboot Kids to childhood cancer survivors in New Zealand...And we can potentially do this through collaboration with Dr Amy Lovell at the University of Auckland.
Dr Lovell is a lecturer at the University of Auckland in the Discipline of Nutrition, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and is a paediatric oncology dietitian at Starship Hospital, Auckland.
We are collaborating with Dr Lovell to write a grant to recruit NZ families into the Reboot Kids program and expand our trial internationally.