Sandhills Community Kitchen Evaluation: Using the Veggie Meter

NCT ID: NCT05494814

Last Updated: 2022-12-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: WITHDRAWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-01-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-01-01

Brief Summary

This clinical trial will evaluate the development, implementation, and impact of a central kitchen preparing and serving meals to child care centers in rural Harnett County, North Carolina. The goals of the kitchen are to improve meal quality, reduce workload on child care providers, create a sustainable business model, and provide a source of community economic development. Our evaluation of the Sandhills Central Community Kitchen is important to better understand how this model can be replicated to serve rural communities. We will recruit 20 child care centers (10 intervention and 10 as a control group); we estimate that each child care center will serve 40 children. We will collect baseline data at the beginning of the project from all 20 centers, and will repeat data collection at the end of the project to assess changes. Data will be collected through parent surveys, surveys and interviews with child care center directors, surveys and focus groups with teachers, interviews with the church pastor and community leaders where the kitchen is based, surveys of kitchen staff, nutritional analysis of menu data, collection and analysis of food costs, and through use of the "Veggie Meter" (a non-invasive instrument that assesses changes in intake of fruits and vegetables by measuring skin carotenoids) with child care center children and staff. Our goal is to document the impacts of central kitchens in terms of nutritional and economic benefits in order to create a replicable model.

Detailed Description

This clinical trial will evaluate the development, implementation, and impact of a central kitchen preparing and serving meals to child care centers in rural Harnett County, North Carolina. The goals of the kitchen are to improve meal quality, reduce workload on child care providers, create a sustainable business model, and provide a source of community economic development. Our evaluation of the Sandhills Central Community Kitchen is important to better understand how this model can be replicated to serve rural communities. We will recruit 20 child care centers (10 intervention and 10 as a control group); we estimate that each child care center will serve 40 children. We will collect baseline data at the beginning of the project from all 20 centers, and will repeat data collection at the end of the project to assess changes. Data will be collected through parent surveys, surveys and interviews with child care center directors, surveys and focus groups with teachers, interviews with the church pastor and community leaders where the kitchen is based, surveys of kitchen staff, nutritional analysis of menu data, collection and analysis of food costs, and through use of the "Veggie Meter" (a non-invasive instrument that assesses changes in intake of fruits and vegetables by measuring skin carotenoids) with child care center children and staff. Our goal is to document the impacts of central kitchens in terms of nutritional and economic benefits in order to create a replicable model.

Skin carotenoid status (SCS) will be used to measure F&V intake among pre-schoolers. Carotenoids, the colorful phytonutrients found in vegetables are correlated with F&V intake. A higher carotenoid level is correlated with higher F&V intake; conversely lower carotenoid levels are associated with lower F&V intake over the past month. To measure carotenoid level, researchers will use the Veggie Meter®. The Veggie Meter is a small, portable, non-invasive device that assesses SCS via pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy. This is more accurate than self-reported diet among children.

Conditions

Diet, Healthy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Child Care Centers Served Meals Prepared by Central Kitchen

Children ages 3-5 attending a child care center that purchases meals prepared by a central kitchen.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Child Care Centers Served Meals Prepared by Central Kitchen

Intervention Type: OTHER

The child care centers who are served by the central kitchen will receive meals that include locally sourced fresh fruits and vegetables to serve their staff and children.

Child Care Centers Not Served Meals Prepared by Central Kitchen

Children ages 3-5 attending a child care center that does not purchase meals prepared by a central kitchen.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Child Care Centers Served Meals Prepared by Central Kitchen

The child care centers who are served by the central kitchen will receive meals that include locally sourced fresh fruits and vegetables to serve their staff and children.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

-

Exclusion Criteria

-

• Minimum Eligible Age: 3 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Duke University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

North Carolina State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jessica Bloom

Associate Professor and Local Foods Extension Specialist

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Dara Bloom, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

North Carolina State University

Locations

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

24444

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id