Nourish Clinical Trial

NCT ID: NCT06947954

Last Updated: 2026-01-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 180 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-05-19
• Study Completion Date: 2026-10-01

Brief Summary

The purpose of the research study is to learn more about the best ways to teach cooking and food skills to adults, and how cooking classes may help reduce one's stress and food waste, as well as improve their diet.

Detailed Description

Currently, 12.8% of Americans experience food insecurity, and food insecurity is associated with elevated perceived stress. Food literacy is proficiency in food-related skills and knowledge, including food preparation and cooking skills, basic nutrition knowledge, and the ability to prevent food waste. Recent research conducted in Australia suggests that food literacy interventions are associated with improved food security. Traditionally food literacy interventions take a recipe-based approach to culinary nutrition and lack information about key components of food literacy, such as food storage and food waste reduction techniques. However, recent research by the PI contends that recipes may be difficult for food insecure individuals to implement at home, given the challenge of procuring ingredients, suggesting the need for a new approach. In addition, food insecure households face additional environmental challenges, such as owning fewer cooking utensils, compared to food secure households. Based on the Social Cognitive Theory, the Nourish intervention addresses these limitations by incorporating food waste reduction, food storage knowledge, and improvisational cooking skills (cooking with what you have on hand) into food literacy and culinary nutrition education, as well as providing key cooking utensils. Eventually, the study team plans to test the impact of the Nourish intervention on food literacy, perceived stress, diet quality and food security to determine if food literacy interventions can positively impact perceived stress, diet, and food security. The present clinical trial will test the effectiveness of the Nourish intervention on household food waste, diet quality, and food and cooking skills and behaviors.

Conditions

Nutrition; Healthy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Nourish intervention then no intervention

Subjects first participate in 9 weeks of weekly cooking classes, then no intervention for 9 weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Nourish intervention then no intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will attend a weekly in-person class with brief instructional video clips, hands-on cooking and tasting experiences. Participants will work individually and as part of small groups during instructional sessions. At the end of each class, participants will receive a grocery bundle and a kitchen gadget that serves both as an incentive and implementation support to promote improved cooking frequency and confidence. Participants will be asked to post photos of what they made with their groceries to an instant messaging software (GroupMe application) and be encouraged to engage with fellow classmates on GroupMe to encourage social support of cooking. After 9 weeks, participants crossover into the No Intervention group.

no intervention then nourish intervention

Subjects receive no intervention for 9 weeks, then participate in 9 weeks of weekly cooking classes.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

no intervention then Nourish intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive no intervention for 9 weeks. After 9 weeks, they crossover into the Nourish Intervention group where they will attend a weekly in-person class with brief instructional video clips, hands-on cooking and tasting experiences. Participants will work individually and as part of small groups during instructional sessions. At the end of each class, participants will receive a grocery bundle and a kitchen gadget that serves both as an incentive and implementation support to promote improved cooking frequency and confidence. Participants will be asked to post photos of what they made with their groceries to an instant messaging software (GroupMe application) and be encouraged to engage with fellow classmates on GroupMe to encourage social support of cooking.

Interventions

Nourish intervention then no intervention

Participants will attend a weekly in-person class with brief instructional video clips, hands-on cooking and tasting experiences. Participants will work individually and as part of small groups during instructional sessions. At the end of each class, participants will receive a grocery bundle and a kitchen gadget that serves both as an incentive and implementation support to promote improved cooking frequency and confidence. Participants will be asked to post photos of what they made with their groceries to an instant messaging software (GroupMe application) and be encouraged to engage with fellow classmates on GroupMe to encourage social support of cooking. After 9 weeks, participants crossover into the No Intervention group.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

no intervention then Nourish intervention

Participants will receive no intervention for 9 weeks. After 9 weeks, they crossover into the Nourish Intervention group where they will attend a weekly in-person class with brief instructional video clips, hands-on cooking and tasting experiences. Participants will work individually and as part of small groups during instructional sessions. At the end of each class, participants will receive a grocery bundle and a kitchen gadget that serves both as an incentive and implementation support to promote improved cooking frequency and confidence. Participants will be asked to post photos of what they made with their groceries to an instant messaging software (GroupMe application) and be encouraged to engage with fellow classmates on GroupMe to encourage social support of cooking.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Intervention; Control

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 and over
• Ability to attend classes in person

Exclusion Criteria

• Non-English speaking

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Case Western Reserve University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Melissa Prescott, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Case Western Reserve University

Brenna Ellison, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Purdue University

Locations

Community Recruitment

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Ashleigh Fletcher, BS

Role: CONTACT

axf537@case.edu

216-368-4699

Melissa Prescott, PhD

Role: CONTACT

melissa.prescott@case.edu

216-368-4699

Other Identifiers

CA2115405

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

STUDY20250330

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id