Addressing Disparities in Food Access Among Young Children in Louisiana: A Farm to ECE Approach

NCT05745376 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB881-23
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 228
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this pilot project is to increase access to healthy food, improve diets, and reduce food insecurity and, in turn, reduce health disparities among low-income, minority children under the age of five attending early childcare centers. Specific aims are to: 1) examine the feasibility of a six-month Farm to ECE intervention and 2) collect preliminary data to evaluate the efficacy of the program to 2.1) improve the ECE nutrition environment from baseline to follow-up; 2.2) increase access to local fruits and vegetables among children at ECEs from baseline to follow-up; and 2.3) increase parent knowledge and use of community food resources. The investigators will use this preliminary data to develop a larger scale project to test intervention efficacy.

Conditions

Food Insecurity; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Nutrition, Healthy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• incidence of parent/guardian use of community food resources

  Parent/guardian surveys will ask questions about use of community food resources. Frequencies will be calculated based on results.

  6 months

• nutrition environment score measured by NAPSACC

  Environmental assessments and pre/post staff surveys using validated tools (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care NAPSACC) will be used to determine changes in the nutrition environment and healthy options. Nutrition environment scores will be calculated using the tool scoring guide.

  6 months

• percent completion of program components (fidelity)

  Staff will be asked to complete tracking records of all executed program components. Percent completion will be calculated by dividing program components executed by total program components.

  6 months

• satisfaction score with program implementation

  Staff will be asked to complete a post intervention survey to indicate their satisfaction (scale of 1-5) with the program implementation and its components.

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention Center

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention will include: (1) assisting ECEs with conducting self-assessments; (2) connecting ECEs with local farmers and food producers; (3) providing technical assistance for menu changes, procuring healthy food, identifying and implementing best feeding practices and policies for the environment; (4) delivering nutrition education; and (5) connecting parents/guardians with local food resources and affordable fresh food to be consumed at home

Behavioral: Farm to ECE programming

Comparison

NO INTERVENTION

No programming at center, only surveys

Interventions

Farm to ECE programming BEHAVIORAL

Students and parents at this center will receive program elements described in arm descriptions.

Intervention Center

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 99 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Director or staff of participating center
• years of age minimum

You may not qualify if:

• Staff not involved with educational programming
• Parent or guardian of current student at participating center
• years of age minimum
• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Xavier University of Louisiana.: lead

Study Sites (1)

Xavier University Of Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana, 70125, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Behavior

Study Officials

• Megan Knapp, PhD

  Xavier University of Louisiana.

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: intervention and comparison

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2023
• First Posted: February 27, 2023
• Study Start: September 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 31, 2024
• Study Completion: July 31, 2024
• Last Updated: August 14, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)