Cooking for Health

Cooking for Health in a Large American Indian Community in the North-Central United States

Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among American Indians (AIs) in the United States. Although healthy diet is a key component of diabetes management programs, many AIs face barriers to adopting a healthy diet including: difficulty budgeting for food on low-incomes, low literacy and numeracy when purchasing food, and limited cooking skills. The proposed project will evaluate a culturally-targeted healthy foods budgeting, purchasing, and cooking skills intervention aimed at improving the cardio-metabolic health of AIs with type 2 diabetes who live in rural areas.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Budgeting, purchasing and cooking educational intervention

Detailed Description

The research activities proposed in this application address a pressing need in American Indian (AI) communities - the evaluation of a culturally-tailored healthy food budgeting, purchasing, and cooking intervention to see whether it can improve diet and health among AIs with type 2 diabetes.

This randomized clinical trial will compare the efficacy of a culturally-tailored healthy food budgeting, purchasing, and cooking program on: (1) diet quality (i.e., intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, processed foods) and (2) healthy food budgeting and cooking skills, among AIs with type 2 diabetes who reside in a large AI community in the north-central United States. Additionally, the investigators will conduct a mixed methods process evaluation to assess intervention reach, fidelity, and participant satisfaction. Curriculum will be tailored to an AI population with diabetes, and directly address major barriers to healthy eating that were identified by community members and tribal leaders in recent focus groups including: (1) difficulty budgeting for food on low-incomes; (2) low literacy and numeracy when purchasing food (e.g., inability to use in-store scales to convert foods priced "per pound" to dollar values); (3) limited cooking skills. The investigators expect that implementation of a culturally-tailored diet intervention will be effective in promoting positive diet change, and increase healthy food budgeting and cooking skills.

Poorly controlled diabetes affects the health/longevity of those afflicted, and has profound effects on healthcare costs. Greater efforts are needed to encourage healthy eating in underserved communities with a high burden of diabetes. Improving healthy food budgeting, purchasing, and cooking skills among AIs with diabetes should improve diet and diabetes management. If successful, this program can be extended to other AI communities.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 176
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • South Dakota
    • Eagle Butte, South Dakota, United States, 57625
      • Missouri Breaks Industries Research Inc

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• American Indian
• 18+ years
• self-reported type 2 diabetes
• reside on reservation where study is being conducted
• self-identify as person who holds most of the responsibility for household budgeting, shopping, and cooking

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnant
• history of bariatric surgery
• chronic kidney disease
• on dialysis
• cognitively impaired
• individuals without a reliable place to cook or store food (e.g., homeless)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Arm	Behavioral: Budgeting, purchasing and cooking educational intervention; Receive culturally-tailored healthy food budgeting, purchasing, and cooking skills curriculum
No Intervention: Control Arm

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change (From Baseline) in Self-reported Intake (Servings/Day) of Sugar-sweetened Beverages (Measured Using the Nutrition Assessment Shared Resource Food Frequency Questionnaire) at 6 Months and 12 Months	Sugar-sweetened beverages include self-reported intake of fruit drinks, sugar-based energy drinks, and soda. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages will be estimated using measures of consumption frequency and portion size. Average intakes will be calculated for each study participant using the University of Minnesota Nutrition Data Systems for Research Software by multiplying the frequency response for each beverage on the food frequency questionnaire by the recalled portion size, and then summing for all relevant beverages. Change from baseline with be assessed at 6 months and 12 months (12 months - baseline; 6 months - baseline). As the intervention hopes to decrease intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, lower (i.e., more negative) after - before differences represent a better outcome.	measured at baseline, and months 6 and 12
Change (From Baseline) in Healthy and Unhealthy Food Purchases (Measured Using the Healthy/Unhealthy Food Acquisition Survey) at 6 Months and 12 Months	Change in healthy and unhealthy food purchases will be estimated using the Healthy/Unhealthy Food Acquisition Survey. The survey includes a list of 47 healthy and unhealthy foods commonly consumed in the community. At each exam (baseline, month 6, month 12), participants will report the number of times he/she acquired each of the 47 foods in the past 30 days. Change from baseline with be assessed at 6 months and 12 months (12 months - baseline; 6 months - baseline). As the intervention hopes to increase the number of healthy food purchases and decrease the number of unhealthy food purchases, higher after - before differences represent a better outcome for healthy foods and lower after - before differences represent a better outcome for unhealthy foods.	measured at baseline, and months 6 and 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change (From Baseline) in Food Budgeting Skills (Measured Using the Food Resource Management Scale) at 6 Months and 12 Months	Change in food budgeting skills will be estimated using the Food Resource Management Scale. The scale includes 4 questions related to shopping behaviors to maximize food resources. The Food Resource Management Scale is a Likert-type scale with responses ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Responses to the four questions will be averaged to create a total Food Resource Management Score. Change from baseline with be assessed at 6 months and 12 months (12 months - baseline; 6 months - baseline). As the intervention hopes to increase food budgeting skills, higher after-before differences represent a better outcome.	measured at baseline, and months 6 and 12
Change (From Baseline) in Cooking Skills (Measured Using the Cooking Confidence Scale) at 6 Months and 12 Months	Change in cooking skills will be estimated using a minor modification of the Cooking Confidence Scale. The Cooking Confidence Scale includes 6 questions related to confidence in preparing healthy foods. It is a Likert-type scale with responses ranging from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (very confident). Responses to the questions will be averaged. Change from baseline with be assessed at 6 months and 12 months (12 months - baseline; 6 months - baseline). As the intervention hopes to increase cooking skills, higher after - before differences represent a better outcome.	measured at baseline, and months 6 and 12
Process Evaluation: Intervention Reach	The proportion of those approached that were eligible for the intervention (and the number who subsequently participate) will be used as a marker of intervention reach.	Years 2020-2023
Process Evaluation: Intervention Fidelity	The investigators will assess adherence to the study protocol and document barriers and facilitators to implementation throughout the trial.	through study completion, estimated 12 months to complete intervention per participant
Process Evaluation: Intervention Satisfaction (Among Those in the Intervention Arm)	During months 6 and 12, a sub-sample of study participants in the intervention arm will meet with study staff by phone for semi-structured interviews to evaluate the overall intervention. Qualitative analyses will assess participant's satisfaction with the intervention.	Semi-structured interviews will be done at months 6 and 12.
Process Evaluation: Intervention Dose Delivered (i.e., Number of Lessons Included in the Curriculum Available for Participants)	Dose will be assessed in the intervention arm only	through study completion, estimated 12 months to complete intervention per participant
Process Evaluation: Intervention Dose Received (i.e., Number of Lessons Included in the Curriculum Completed by Participants)	Dose will be assessed in the intervention arm only	through study completion, estimated 12 months to complete intervention per participant

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Washington
• Collaborators: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); Medstar Health Research Institute; Missouri Breaks Industries Research, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Amanda M Fretts, PhD, University of Washington

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hawley CN, Huber CM, Best LG, Howard BV, Umans J, Beresford SAA, McKnight B, Hager A, O'Leary M, Thorndike AN, Ornelas IJ, Brown MC, Fretts AM. Cooking for Health: a healthy food budgeting, purchasing, and cooking skills randomized controlled trial to improve diet among American Indians with type 2 diabetes. BMC Public Health. 2021 Feb 15;21(1):356. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10308-8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 27, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 26, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 26, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 2, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 5, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): October 9, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2025
• Last Verified: February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: diet; cooking skills
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Endocrine System Diseases; Metabolic Diseases; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00004114; R01MD011596 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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