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

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

300 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-06-19

Study Completion Date

2027-08-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

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.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Peer-mentored Cooking Classes for Parents of Toddlers: Do Families Cook More and Eat Healthier After the Intervention?

NCT01710423

Obesity

COMPLETED NA

Hands On Nutrition Education to Improve Childhood Health

NCT04109768

Health Behavior Nutrition Poor

WITHDRAWN NA

Skill-based Cooking Intervention to Reduce Eating Out

NCT02202733

Obesity

COMPLETED NA

Market to MyPlate: Investigating the Impact of a Nutrition and Hands-On Cooking Intervention

NCT04240782

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Cooking Frequency

COMPLETED NA

Effectiveness of a Culinary Class on Food Literacy and Eating Behaviours of Francophone High School Students

NCT04605224

Eating Behavior Fruit and Vegetable Intake

COMPLETED

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

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.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Teaching Healthy Cooking Skills to Parents and Their Preschool Children

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

CHEF-ED + Food Delivery group

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.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

CHEF-ED + Food Delivery

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

CHEF-ED is a 7-week, digital, video-based parental intervention that teaches healthy cooking practices and an optimal way to involve children in home cooking. Each week features a video, infographics, and recipe content. The content is designed to be integrated into the home food environment without major changes to shopping habits. However, some basic culinary ingredients that are featured may not already be part of participating family pantry stocks. To support participants in effectively learning the healthy cooking strategies, participating families are provided a one-time home food delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils, such as cooking oil, spices, whole wheat pasta, low sodium soy sauce, bowls.

Food Delivery Only group

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.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Food Delivery Only

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The Food Delivery Only intervention involves participants receiving a one-time home food delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils, such as cooking oil, spices, whole wheat pasta, low sodium soy sauce, bowls.

Control group

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.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

CHEF-ED + Food Delivery

CHEF-ED is a 7-week, digital, video-based parental intervention that teaches healthy cooking practices and an optimal way to involve children in home cooking. Each week features a video, infographics, and recipe content. The content is designed to be integrated into the home food environment without major changes to shopping habits. However, some basic culinary ingredients that are featured may not already be part of participating family pantry stocks. To support participants in effectively learning the healthy cooking strategies, participating families are provided a one-time home food delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils, such as cooking oil, spices, whole wheat pasta, low sodium soy sauce, bowls.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Food Delivery Only

The Food Delivery Only intervention involves participants receiving a one-time home food delivery of non-perishable basic culinary ingredients and kitchen utensils, such as cooking oil, spices, whole wheat pasta, low sodium soy sauce, bowls.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

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.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

64 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes