Clinical trial NCT06681909: University At Buffalo Campus Veggie Van Mobile Market
Official title: Adapting the Veggie Van Mobile Market Intervention to Address Disparities in Nutrition Security Among College Students
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Conditions: Food Habits
Food Selection
Lead sponsor: University at Buffalo
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
First posted: 2024-11-12
Enrollment: 125
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Food-insecure undergraduate students at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY who are attending classes for the 2024-2025 school year.

Brief summary: The goal of this observational study is to develop an adaptable mobile produce market model to be used on college campuses to increase college students' access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Food insecurity on college campuses threatens academic success and student well-being, and affects first generation, lower-income, and racial/ethnic minority students at higher rates. This research will include a pilot campus mobile market operated on the University at Buffalo campus. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1.) What makes it hard for students to eat healthy foods on the University at Buffalo campus, 2.) How does a mobile market need to operate on a college campus to best reach students, and 3.) What is the relationship between mobile market use and changes in how many fruits and vegetables students eat, students' ability to consistently eat foods that promote health and well-being, and participation in the Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Detailed description: As first-generation, low-income, and racial/ethnic minority students have improved their access to higher education, food insecurity in United States campuses has increased and threatens their academic success and well-being. College food pantries have been the most common solution but only offer short-term emergency relief, and stigma has prevented their use. To provide a longer-term evidence-based approach that honors students' choices and dignity, this research will inform the development of an adaptable campus mobile market model that consistently provides access to healthy food and promotes nutrition security. The clinical trial portion of the research will evaluate how intervention dosage, gauged by University at Buffalo Campus Veggie Van (UB Veggie Van) visits, total fruit and vegetable purchasing, and incentive redemption, is associated with changes in fruit and vegetable consumption (including skin carotenoids), nutrition security measures, and Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment from the beginning to the end of the semester.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* current students at the University at Buffalo
* completed the online campus survey (Aim 1 of larger funded project)
* experienced food insecurity during Spring 2024
* undergraduate students
* at least 18 years of age
* speak English
* must plan to return to the University at Buffalo campus in Spring 2025.

Exclusion Criteria:

* non-students
* non-English speaking
* students who will not return to campus in Spring 2025
* graduate students

Primary outcomes:
measure: Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
timeFrame: Collected at baseline and after the 13-week intervention period
measure: Nutrition Security
timeFrame: Collected at baseline and after the 13-week intervention period
measure: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Enrollment
timeFrame: Collected at baseline and after the 13-week intervention period
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Intervention Dosage
timeFrame: Collected throughout the 13-week intervention period
Other outcomes:
measure: Process Measures
timeFrame: Collected after the 13-week intervention period
measure: UB Campus Veggie Van Perceptions
timeFrame: Collected after the 13-week intervention period
measure: Skin Carotenoids
timeFrame: Collected at baseline and after the 13-week intervention period
Locations:
city: Buffalo
country: United States
facility: University at Buffalo
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: University at Buffalo
name: Lucia Leone, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: