Impact of Mindfulness Program on Perceived Wellness, Eating Habits and Relationship to Food

Summary

Mindfulness, seemingly a simple concept, research shows that the impact of mindfulness on the overall wellness of an individual can be helpful (5). Research supports that mindfulness leads to reduced stress, enhanced performance, better focus, and improved approach (7). Areas of mindfulnessare mindful eating,movement and meditation. Application of mindfulness tools in these areas can be beneficial to health outcomes and to create a happier more efficient work environment (9).

Mindful eating shows to improve diet quality and attitudes toward food and eating. Individuals better understand physical hunger/fullness cues, improve nutrient density, weight control,digestion,systolic blood pressure, and stress(2). Disordered eating behaviors have also shown to improve(3). Mindless eating, such as eating while being on the phone, driving, or watching television can have the opposite effect and can be linked to more emotional hunger cues.

Combining mindful eating with diet therapy can lead to healthier food choices and a more positive feeling towards eating and body image, reducing stress and improving the overall wellness of an individual (4). Aspire's experience shows that aspects of teacher's wellness is worsening with ,media reporting more and more employees resigning from their positions every day (wccb,2021). Teachers have voiced their need for more support with their wellbeing. As a result, Aspire Nutrition is targeting school employees through a newly developed mindfulness program titled Nourish Carolina. This program will be focused on improving the overall wellness of participants Participants are enrolled in the study for 12 weeks. All participants will have weekly nutritional counseling and bi-weekly mental health counseling. Study group will have nutrition and mental health counseling with mindfulness activities and control group will receive nutrition and mental health sessions without mindfulness activities. There is a program curriculum so that mental health and nutrition mindfulness activities compliment eachother The mindfulness lessons for study group are divided into 6 nutrition and 6 mental health sessions,for 15 minutes during the session. Positive outcomes could include improved workplace performance as a result of enhancing school employees overall wellness and quality of life by reducing stress levels, improving diet quality, and improving mental health.

Conditions

• Diet, Healthy
• Food Habits
• Mental Fatigue
• Mental Stress
• Mental Health Issue
• Nutrition Poor
• Nutrition Disorders
• Eating, Compulsive
• Eating Behavior
• Eating Disorder Weight Fixation
• Eating Disorders
• Nutrition, Healthy
• Dietary Habits

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Nutrition and Mental health counseling

Nutrition and Mental health counseling with a standardized format included in each session

BEHAVIORAL

Nutrition and Mental health counseling with Nourish Carolina

Nutrition and Mental health counseling with a standardized format included in each session combined with the intervention of a 12 week immersion of mindfulness based program ,Nourish Carolina, on CMS , school district employees. Nourish Carolina inlcudes, detailed lessons and descriptions with a caledar that includes mindful eating tips, activities, meditations recipes and videos. The program has monthly themes of mindfulness,gratitude and giving

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Aspire Nutrition, LLP

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kaylee Patrick, RD/LDN · Aspire Nutrition Owner

• Cyrilla E Purnell, MPH, RD · Program Management and Development

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-02-02

Primary Completion

2022-05-15

Completion

2022-09-15