Not having enough food for each person in a household, also called food insecurity, makes it hard to eat a nutritious diet, maintain a healthy weight, and manage diabetes risk. Food banks and pantries provide direct food assistance that can mitigate food insecurity among people with lower income, however, people that utilize these organizations face time, resource, and physical constraints that limit their ability to consistently select and cook healthier meals and the organizations face budget constraints that limit their bandwidth for implementing nutrition programs. This research will test four innovative nutrition programs (nutritious prepared meals, medically tailored groceries in the form of meal kits, culinary medicine, motivational text messages) to identify which are the most effective for supporting healthy eating and food security and the most cost effective for organizations to implement, as an effort to reduce diabetes risk, improve diabetes self-management, and diminish health disparities.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
400
Meal kits combine ingredients (e.g., chicken, tomatillo salsa verde, peppers, sweet potatoes) in a bag with a recipe that instructs how to make a healthier meal (e.g., Chicken Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Peppers and Sweet Potatoes).
The meals were created to meet nutrition standards for people with or at-risk for cardiometabolic diseases. Each entree has at least one serving of proteins, whole grains, and two vegetables. Entrees are low in sodium and sugar and meet carbohydrate recommendations for people with diabetes.
Participants randomly assigned to receive culinary nutrition classes will receive six-weeks of hybrid instruction from the Health Meets Food™ curriculum. Health Meets Food™ improves adherence to a nutritious diet, reduces food costs by encouraging more home food preparation, and reduces blood pressure and cholesterol among people with diabetes.
Participants will receive four culturally tailored SMS and MMS texts per week with motivational messages and nutrition education developed and tested by Dr. Leng as part of the SANOS trial (R01MD012819) and slightly adapted to our community's food preferences identified through extensive preliminary research. Texts will be delivered in the participants preferred language (English/Spanish) and scheduled for their preferred time (e.g., AM/PM).
Crossroads Community Services
Dallas, Texas, United States
Diet
24-hour recall based on recommendations from the National Cancer Institute and prior evidence suggesting feasibility and validity of the measure with Spanish speakers. Diet will be assessed using 24-hour recall administered via the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24) in English and Spanish. Will be used to calculate a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score. The HEI is a scale from 0 to 100.
Time frame: Recorded at baseline (Appt 1, prior to randomization), midpoint (Appt 2, month 3), immediately following the intervention period (Appt 3, month 6), and three months post-intervention (Appt 4, month 9).
Household food security
Measured using the USDA 6-item household food security survey and will be treated as a continuous variable if normally distributed or a categorical variable if data is non-normal. Categorical scoring will be based on USDA recommendations (0-1 affirmative responses = high or marginal food security, 2-4 = low food security, 5-6 = very low food security).
Time frame: Recorded at baseline (Appt 1, prior to randomization), midpoint (Appt 2, month 3), immediately following the intervention period (Appt 3, month 6), and three months post-intervention (Appt 4, month 9).
Percent body weight change
Will be calculated as (Baseline weight minus follow-up weight) / (Baseline weight) x 100. Height and weight will be measured using an externally validated and calibrated Tanita DC-240MA scale.
Time frame: Recorded at baseline (Appt 1, prior to randomization), midpoint (Appt 2, month 3), immediately following the intervention period(Appt 3, month 6), and three months post-intervention (Appt 4, month 9).
Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c)
Will be measured using the externally validated point-of-care instrument, DCA VantageAnalyzer (1μl finger stick, nonfasting). This method has been implemented in food pantries and is less invasive and more cost effective than a venous blood draw.
Time frame: Recorded at baseline (Appt 1, prior to randomization), midpoint (Appt 2, month 3), immediately following the intervention period(Appt 3, month 6), and three months post-intervention (Appt 4, month 9).
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