FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Why have I, and my child, been invited to take part?
Households were randomly selected from the Royal Mail Postcode Address File which covers almost all households in Scotland. Addresses were cross-checked with a list of everyone registered with a Scotland GP (Community Health Index), to confirm a child aged 2-15 years lived there so we could write to them and invite them to the survey. We have not requested any details about your, or your child’s health.
Who is doing this study?
Food Standards Scotland have funded this study. The University of Edinburgh, and the market research company, Taylor McKenzie, are carrying it out. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen and Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland are also assisting with the survey. The Human Ethical Review Committee at the University of Edinburgh has reviewed and approved this study.
Click here to find out more about Food Standards Scotland's nutrition research
What will we be asked to do if we agree to participate?
We will ask you to complete a one-off brief online survey about your child (including details like your child’s gender and ethnicity), and your household such as the number of adults and children living there. We will also ask for your email address and/or mobile phone number, which we will use solely to contact you concerning this study. We would then like you to complete an online food diary which asks you to record all the food and drink items your child had on the previous day. If your child is in secondary school (or high school/academy), we suggest they complete this themselves, with your help if needed. We will also ask them some additional questions about their food and drink choices. We hope you, or your child, will be able to complete up to 4 food diaries on different days within two weeks of completing your first one.
We will also ask if you would be willing to be contacted about any further research studies about your child’s eating habits. Of those willing to be contacted and whose child is aged 3 years and over, 400 will be randomly chosen to complete another survey about how often they had particular food and drink items over the past 2-3 months. We suggest if your child completed the food diary themselves they complete this survey themselves, too. The survey includes a list of about 145 food and drink items.
How long will the surveys take?
The brief online survey should take 10 minutes and each food diary should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete. You will likely get faster after the first one as you get used to the tool. The additional survey asking about your child’s dietary habits over the past 2-3 months should take around 20 minutes to complete.
How will you use information about my child?
Taylor McKenzie will conduct the survey and have access to all the information you provide. This will be held securely on their server, locked in a secure office. Access to these data is password-protected and only shared with those who require access in order to conduct this study. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland will have access to your survey responses but this data set will not contain your child’s name, email, address, or phone number. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen will have access to some dietary intake data but will not have access to any other data.
Taylor McKenzie will retain your child’s name, email, address, and phone number for 6 months after which it will be permanently deleted. After that, an anonymous data file with your child's gender, age, stage of education, receipt of food parcels or vouchers in the school holidays, how many adults and children live in the household, food insecurity, and dietary intake will be retained indefinitely in the UK Data Archive
If you have any concerns about how we will use you or your child’s information, please contact the University of Edinburgh, Data Protection Officer: dpo@ed.ac.uk
Where can I find additional information?
You can find more information about the study in our information sheets. If you have additional questions about the study, please contact the study team.
- parent/guardian information sheet
- young person information sheet
- Email the study team at Intake24@taylormckenzie.co.uk