Brighter Bites & University of Texas Physicians Produce Rx Extension: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Prospective Clinical Nutrition Study With Produce Prescriptions

July 2, 2025 updated by: Shreela V Sharma, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
The purpose of this study is to clinically evaluate the effectiveness of an at-home delivery produce prescription in improving weight status and obesity-related health outcomes and to examine the impacts of the program on child dietary behavioral outcomes (child fruit and vegetable intake, junk food consumption, and eating at any type of restaurant), and parent feeding practices (preparing foods from scratch, use of nutrition facts labels to make purchasing decisions, and eating meals with their referent child).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
150

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must be a patient at University of Texas Physicians Greens Clinic or University of Texas Physicians Pediatric Primary Care in Houston, Texas
  • BMI>85th percentile
  • reside within a 10-mile radius of a Brighter Bites school
  • Medicaid recipients or low-income uninsured
  • parents must be able to read and write in English or Spanish to complete surveys

Exclusion Criteria:

  • currently participating in Brighter Bites
  • a family member/sibling currently participating in Brighter Bites
  • child is currently attending a school that offers Brighter Bites

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Standard of Care
Other: Standard of care
Standard of care includes routine lab work collection and weight and diet counseling for overweight or obese children. Additionally, referrals placed to community resources for those identified with Social Determinants of Health(SDOH) needs.
Experimental: Produce prescription program
Other: Produce prescription program
Boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables (F&V), each containing approximately 50 servings of F&V, will be assembled by Brighter Bites at school sites using donated produce and delivered to houses using DoorDash. F&V boxes will be distributed to families every 2 weeks over 32 weeks. Participants will also receive nutrition education using the Brighter Bites app which includes recipes for a variety of meal types or produce types, all of which are searchable. Recipes include the average cost to prepare, the number of servings, and the calories for the recipe. The Brighter Bites app also includes healthy living "Brighter Choices" suggestions such as tips for how to store different types of foods, gardening tips, and tips to pack a healthy lunchbox. In addition to the Brighter Bites app, trained staff will facilitate virtual nutrition education for patient families.
Other: Standard of care
Standard of care includes routine lab work collection and weight and diet counseling for overweight or obese children. Additionally, referrals placed to community resources for those identified with Social Determinants of Health(SDOH) needs.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in body mass index (BMI)
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in systolic blood pressure
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in diastolic blood pressure
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in level of hemoglobin A1c in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in level of Aspartate transaminase (AST) in units per liter (U/L) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in level of Alanine transaminase (ALT) in units per liter (U/L) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in level of low-density lipoprotein(LDL) in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in levels of high-density lipoprotein(HDL) in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in levels of total cholesterol in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in levels of triglycerides in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) as assessed by blood work
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in amount of fruit and vegetable intake
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in amount of junk food consumed
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in number of times subject eats out at restaurants
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in parent feeding practices as assessed by the number of times parent has cooked food from scratch
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in parent feeding practices as assessed by the number of times parent has used nutrition facts labels to make purchasing decisions
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
Change in parent feeding practices as assessed by the number of times parent has eaten meals with their referent child
Time Frame: baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)
baseline , post intervention (32 weeks after baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Brighter Bites and Humana Foundation

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Shreela Sharma, PhD, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 22, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 21, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 21, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 23, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 28, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 30, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 8, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 2, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HSC-SPH-24-0129

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings