Brighter Bites Impact on Parents' Biometrics Outcomes - Pilot Study.
Project Overview
This pilot study uses mixed methods to evaluate the association between non-medical drivers of health and type 2 diabetes and obesity among parents with children, and to understand their challenges to sustainable access to nutritious foods and perceived risks to obesity-related cancer.
Project Details
Brighter Bites is a 501c3 non-profit organization that implements an evidence- based coordinated health program that combines access to fresh produce and nutrition education for under-resourced children and their families. Through 16 biweekly distributions per school year, Brighter Bites partners with trusted avenues, such as schools and clinics, to provide an opportunity to increase access to nutrition dense foods and address food insecurity among participating families. Each school year, Brighter Bites participants receive up to 16 bi-weekly distributions of close to 50 servings of primarily donated fresh produce, healthy recipe tastings, and nutrition education. The program has proven effective to improve dietary intake among preschool and elementary school teachers, under-resourced children, and their families. Brighter Bites is currently being disseminated across 12 cities across the U.S.
Brighter Bites study in Acres Homes
The Brighter Bites in Acres Homes study is a school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of Brighter Bites school-based nutrition intervention on child health and parent and child dietary intake and food security status among residents of the Acres Homes community. This study is funded by National Cancer Institute (NCI), and is part of the Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration (Acres Homes CPC), one of five centers for cancer control research created as part of the Persistent Poverty Initiative of the NCI — the first major program to address the structural and institutional factors of persistent poverty in the context of cancer.
Primary Aim:
To examine the effects of the BB intervention compared to wait-list control at post intervention on changes in primary child outcomes (HbA1c, and vegetable intake)
Secondary Aims:
To examine the effects of the Brighter Bites intervention compared to wait-list control at 9-month post intervention on changes in secondary outcomes (household food security status, parent and child dietary behaviors, and home access/availability of fruits and vegetables).
To examine the mediational influence of changes in food security status, parent outcomes, and home environment measures on changes in child outcomes at 9-month post-intervention.
Using within-subject analyses, examine and compare the long-term and dose-response effects of the BB intervention strategies on diet, adiposity, and metabolic outcomes at 21-month follow-up in the children.
Explore the moderating effects of social and environmental variables on program effectiveness.
Project Contact: Ru-Jye (Lindi) Chuang, DrPH
Project Team
Primary Investigator
Ru-Jye (Lindi) Chuang, DrPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences
Co-Investigator
Shreela Sharma, PhD, RDN, LD
Director, Center for Healthy Communities
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Epidemiology
Co-Investigator
Mackenzie Senn, MPH
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Epidemiology
Collaborators & Institutions
MD Anderson Cancer Center Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration
Brighter Bites
https://brighterbites.org/research/