Fuel for Fun: Cooking With Kids Plus Parents and Play (FFF)

Cooking With Kids 2.0: Plus Parents and Play

Fuel for Fun: Cooking with Kids Plus Parents and Play (FFF), is an integrated research, extension, and education project targeting 4th grade students. Its long-term goal of reducing the risk of childhood obesity will be addressed by promoting healthful food and activity environments, policies and behaviors through: 1) building and testing the efficacy of a 4th grade comprehensive school- and family-based intervention, 2) applying it to an after-school setting to broaden its reach, and, 3) disseminating both versions through outreach.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pediatric Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: School; Behavioral: Family; Behavioral: About Eating

Detailed Description

Fuel for Fun: Cooking with Kids Plus Parents and Play (FFF) is based on existing, evidence-based components: the experiential Cooking with Kids curriculum, the SPARK Active Recreation program; principles of behavioral economics in school cafeterias and homes; the online About Eating 5-lesson module based on eating competence concepts, and a family-based FFF component specifically designed for this intervention.

Each component addresses policy and environment in addition to behavior change at school and home. The main research project - school-based FFF - will be implemented in 8 low-to-moderate income schools for two years using an asynchronous design that allows for assessment of the school-based program alone and in combination with both parent programs. Changes in fruit and vegetable intake (measured by self-report, cafeteria plate waste) and activity levels (measured by self-report and accelerometry) are primary outcomes, with measured BMI as a secondary outcome. Subsequent studies will involve the development of an after-school version and adoption of FFF by other districts.

University students will gain valuable research experience and school and Extension educators will receive important childhood obesity prevention training. The project's long term goal is consistent with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) goal of improving the nation's nutrition and health by promoting the development of healthy eating and activity habits in children.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 2640
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Fort Collins, Colorado, United States, 80523-1571
      • Leslie Cunningham-Sabo

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 7 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• all students enrolled in participating classrooms are invited to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

5

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: School Only; Students whose schools are randomized to this condition only receive the classroom, cafeteria and SPARK active recess components	Behavioral: School; students receive Cooking With Kids (CWK) - Colorado cooking & tasting lessons, SPARK active recess, and Cafeteria Connections
Experimental: School + Family; Students whose schools are randomized to this condition receive the classroom, cafeteria and SPARK active recess components and the family component (family nights, parent blog and action packs)	Behavioral: School; students receive Cooking With Kids (CWK) - Colorado cooking & tasting lessons, SPARK active recess, and Cafeteria Connections; Behavioral: Family; students receive the FFF family component - family nights, parent blog, and action packs that go home after each CWK-Colorado lesson
Experimental: School + About Eating; Students whose schools are randomized to this condition only receive the classroom, cafeteria and SPARK active recess components and their parents are invited to participate in the online 6 lesson About Eating program.	Behavioral: School; students receive Cooking With Kids (CWK) - Colorado cooking & tasting lessons, SPARK active recess, and Cafeteria Connections; Behavioral: About Eating; parents who completed the parent survey are invited to access the 6 lesson online About Eating program
Experimental: School + Family + About Eating; students whose schools are randomized to this condition receive the classroom, cafeteria and SPARK active recess components and the family component (family nights, parent blog and action packs) and their parents are invited to participate in the online 6 lesson About Eating program.	Behavioral: School; students receive Cooking With Kids (CWK) - Colorado cooking & tasting lessons, SPARK active recess, and Cafeteria Connections; Behavioral: Family; students receive the FFF family component - family nights, parent blog, and action packs that go home after each CWK-Colorado lesson; Behavioral: About Eating; parents who completed the parent survey are invited to access the 6 lesson online About Eating program
No Intervention: Control; students and their parents in all schools during cohort 1 and 4 (and Ponderosa students in cohort 3) are tested but provided no intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption at School Lunch	using observation and digital photography we will assess student selection and consumption of fruits and vegetables during school lunch; measured at the grade level	assessed 4 times each 9-month school year; once prior to intervention beginning (i.e., September), approximately 10 weeks and then 20 weeks later, and finally once after the intervention ends (i.e., May).
Change in Student Activity Level	Using accelerometers, we will assess a week of activity; 3 of 8 participating schools have been randomized to participate in this data collection	assessed 3 times over 1 year; initially prior to the intervention beginning (i.e., September), a 2nd time once the intervention ends (i.e., May), and then again at the beginning of the following school year (i.e., September)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Body Mass Index	using a standard protocol, we will measure height and weight of all participating students and then calculate BMI z-scores	assessed 3 times over 1 year; initially prior to the intervention beginning (i.e., September), a 2nd time once the intervention ends (i.e., May), and then again at the beginning of the following school year (i.e., September)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Colorado State University
• Collaborators: Penn State University; Rochester Institute of Technology; Poudre School District; Thompson School District

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Lohse B, Faulring K, Mitchell DC, Cunningham-Sabo L. A Definition of "Regular Meals" Driven by Dietary Quality Supports a Pragmatic Schedule. Nutrients. 2020 Sep 1;12(9):2667. doi: 10.3390/nu12092667.
• Cunningham-Sabo L, Lohse B, Smith S, Browning R, Strutz E, Nigg C, Balgopal M, Kelly K, Ruder E. Fuel for Fun: a cluster-randomized controlled study of cooking skills, eating behaviors, and physical activity of 4th graders and their families. BMC Public Health. 2016 May 26;16:444. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3118-6.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 14, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): July 14, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 2, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): July 8, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 14, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2021
• Last Verified: May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Family; School; Cooking; Fruit and Vegetables
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 12-3278H

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Once all data has been collected, analyzed and published we plan to explore how to share de-identified accelerometry data for children and adults.