FRESH-EATS Project

Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to determine the feasibility of the FRESH-EATS project in children ages 8-12 and their parents/caregivers residing in low-income, predominantly minority neighborhoods. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Is the FRESH-EATS intervention feasible to implement and well-received by parent-child dyads? Does the FRESH-EATS multilevel multicomponent intervention improve dietary behaviors of children and their parents/caregivers compared to the comparison group?

We hypothesize that this innovative community-derived, multilevel-multicomponent intervention is feasible to implement and has the potential to improve dietary behaviors of participants (children ages 8-12 and their parents/caregivers).

Researchers will compare the FRESH-EATS intervention group to the Lagged Intervention Control Group (LICG) to see if the FRESH-EATS intervention leads to better dietary behaviors and health outcomes.

Participants in the FRESH-EATS intervention group will:

* Attend educational sessions on healthy eating and cooking.
* Participate in family workshops that address access to healthy food.
* Receive food deliveries and information about local food resources.
* Engage in community garden activities.

Conditions

• Dietary Behaviors
• Obesity and Overweight

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

FRESH-EATS

1. Six weekly Cooking Matters® for Families sessions. Each session is designed to take 90 minutes including hands-on cooking or other activities. 2. Two 90-minute family workshop sessions will be implemented. 3. Food delivery budget (i.e., the Walmart+ annual membership with free shipping and gift cards to purchase ingredients) will be provided up during the intervention period and local food pantry information will be distributed to families. 4. Community garden at the Cornerstone Family Ministries will be utilized by incorporating garden activities, harvesting, and cooking with the produce from the garden.

BEHAVIORAL

Lagged Intervention Control Group

Nutrition education materials that address nutrition in school-age children and families Cooking Matters® for Families will be implemented. Each of six sessions will take about 90 minutes. All lessons will be delivered by qualified nutrition educators along with student assistants at the Cornerstone Family Ministries classrooms. After completing the post-intervention assessment, participants will then receive the other FRESH-EATS intervention components.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

  collaborator NIH

• University of South Florida

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-06-19

Primary Completion

2026-07-31

Completion

2026-10-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations