Cooking HEalthy and Facilitating Early Childhood Development: CHEF-ED Study

Baylor College of Medicine

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Teaching Healthy Cooking Skills to Parents and Their Preschool Children

Treatments: Behavioral: CHEF-ED + Food Delivery; Behavioral: Food Delivery Only

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06940817

2023-68015-40967 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

H-53855

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to test a new online program we developed for parents and their preschool children, called CHEF-ED. CHEF-ED focuses on healthy cooking, parental feeding practices, and involving children in home food preparation.

Full description

All study activities take place online over a 3-month period, and participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups: the CHEF-ED + Food Delivery group, the Food Delivery Only group, or the control group. Participants will not know to which group they are assigned until after they complete the time point 1 surveys. The assignment will be determined randomly using a computer program (equivalent to flipping a coin).

To test how well the program works, regardless of group assignment, participants are asked to complete surveys at two different time points: Time point 1 = pre-program, shortly after enrollment, and Time point 2 = post-program, about 8-10 weeks later. The surveys take about 2 hours to complete online at each time point and will include questions about the participant's and their child's dietary intake, their cooking frequency/quality, food parenting practices, and program content retention. Surveys will also include questions about family's demographics (such as participant's and their child's date of birth, ethnicity, race, sex, etc.), and household food access.

The CHEF-ED + Food Delivery group receives a one-time home food delivery of healthy cooking ingredients and kitchen utensils, such as cooking oil, spices, whole wheat pasta, low sodium soy sauce, bowls, and recipe books. Participants in this group also receive links to weekly CHEF-ED online lessons via text /email message for 7 weeks. Each weekly lesson will include a short video, infographics, and recipes.

The Food Delivery Only group receives a one-time home food delivery of healthy cooking ingredients and kitchen utensils, but no other program materials.

The control group receives no program materials or food delivery.

About 8-10 weeks after completing the time point 1 surveys, participants will receive links to complete the time point 2 surveys. After completing the post-program surveys, participants who were in the Food Delivery Only or control group will receive additional program materials that were not previously provided due to their group assignment. This means that the Food Delivery Only group, after completing the time point 2 surveys, will receive links to all of the CHEF-ED program materials (videos, infographics, recipes) and, the control group, after completing the time point 2 surveys, will receive the one-time healthy ingredients and kitchen utensils delivery and links to all of the CHEF-ED program materials.

Additionally, participants in the CHEF-ED + Food Delivery group, after the post-program surveys, may be invited to take part in an interview to share their experience with the program. This interview will be conducted over the phone or a video conference platform. The information participants share during the interview, such as suggestions and insights on materials accessibility, will help us improve the program.

Enrollment: 300 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Parents/caregivers of preschooler children ages 3 to 5 living in the greater Houston area.
• Must have access to the Internet through a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.
• Should be able to read, write, and communicate in English or Spanish.

Exclusion criteria

• Parents/caregivers and children who have any kind of food allergies, medical conditions, or dietary restrictions that may affect participation in the program.
• Parents/caregivers under the age of 18.
• Parents/caregivers of children with severe developmental delays.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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300 participants in 3 patient groups

CHEF-ED + Food Delivery group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this arm will receive a one-time delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils and access to the CHEF-ED program, which includes weekly online program materials, such as videos, infographics, and recipes sent via text or email over 7 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: CHEF-ED + Food Delivery

Food Delivery Only group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in this arm receive a one-time delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils but will not have access to the CHEF-ED program during the study period.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Food Delivery Only

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this arm will not receive the healthy cooking ingredients delivery nor will they have access to the CHEF-ED program during the study period.