Clinical trial NCT02908854: Using Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Urban High School Students
Official title: Using Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Urban High School Students in the National School Lunch Program
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Poor Nutrition
Keywords: Spices
Herbs
Vegetables
National School Lunch Program
High school
Lead sponsor: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-09-21
Enrollment: 29
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Maximum age (years): 21
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: A two-phase, school-based intervention will be conducted at a high school in Baltimore to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to vegetable dishes in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) can increase vegetable intake among students in an urban and predominantly African-American high school.

Detailed description: The proposed research will be conducted at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, Maryland. In this two-phase intervention, the research team will work in Phase I with stakeholders throughout the high school community to identify the barriers to vegetable intake in the NSLP in this student population and to determine how spices and herbs might help overcome these barriers. The stakeholders with whom we will collaborate will include students, school administration, and cafeteria staff.

Phase II will focus on the direct measurement of vegetable intake among students both before and after spices and herbs are added to the vegetables in the NSLP. The spiced vegetable recipes that received the most favorable student rankings in the taste tests of Phase I will be offered.

The vegetable recipes flavored with spices and herbs will meet all NSLP requirements for fat, sugar, total calories, and all other guidelines.

Student vegetable intake will be assessed through two outcomes: 1.) plate waste, and 2.) production waste.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Enrolled student at Cristo Rey High School
* Able to read and write English (exclusive to Phase 1 participants)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Does not eat lunch in the Cristo Rey High School cafeteria
* Not willing to complete questionnaires (exclusive to Phase 1 participants)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Vegetable plate waste
timeFrame: The overall time frame for the outcome measure assessment is up to 8 months. This will occur during the 2016-2017 school year.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Cafeteria production waste as measured by calculating the difference between total prepared vegetable weight and discarded vegetable weight.
timeFrame: The overall time frame for the outcome measure assessment is up to 8 months. This will occur during the 2016-2017 school year.
measure: Attitudes towards eating vegetables
timeFrame: The outcome measure is being assessed up to 12 months. Spring 2016 through Spring 2017.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Baltimore
country: United States
facility: Center for Integrative Medicine University of Maryland
state: Maryland
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Maryland, Baltimore
name: Christopher D'Adamo, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Gase LN, McCarthy WJ, Robles B, Kuo T. Student receptivity to new school meal offerings: assessing fruit and vegetable waste among middle school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Prev Med. 2014 Oct;67 Suppl 1(0 1):S28-33. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.04.013. Epub 2014 Apr 16.
citation: Byker CJ, Farris AR, Marcenelle M, Davis GC, Serrano EL. Food waste in a school nutrition program after implementation of new lunch program guidelines. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014 Sep-Oct;46(5):406-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2014.03.009. Epub 2014 May 22.
citation: Just DR, Wansink B, Hanks AS. Chefs move to schools. A pilot examination of how chef-created dishes can increase school lunch participation and fruit and vegetable intake. Appetite. 2014 Dec;83:242-247. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.08.033. Epub 2014 Aug 27.
citation: Hanks AS, Wansink B, Just DR. Reliability and accuracy of real-time visualization techniques for measuring school cafeteria tray waste: validating the quarter-waste method. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014 Mar;114(3):470-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.08.013. Epub 2013 Oct 14.
citation: D'Adamo CR, McArdle PF, Balick L, Peisach E, Ferguson T, Diehl A, Bustad K, Bowden B, Pierce BA, Berman BM. Spice MyPlate: Nutrition Education Focusing Upon Spices and Herbs Improved Diet Quality and Attitudes Among Urban High School Students. Am J Health Promot. 2016 May;30(5):346-56. doi: 10.1177/0890117116646333.