Addressing Disparities in Food Access Among Young Children in Louisiana: A Farm to ECE Approach (FarmtoECE)

The goal of this pilot project is to increase access to healthy food, improve diets, and reduce food insecurity and, in turn, reduce health disparities among low-income, minority children under the age of five attending early childcare centers. Specific aims are to: 1) examine the feasibility of a six-month Farm to ECE intervention and 2) collect preliminary data to evaluate the efficacy of the program to 2.1) improve the ECE nutrition environment from baseline to follow-up; 2.2) increase access to local fruits and vegetables among children at ECEs from baseline to follow-up; and 2.3) increase parent knowledge and use of community food resources. The investigators will use this preliminary data to develop a larger scale project to test intervention efficacy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Food Insecurity; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Nutrition, Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Farm to ECE programming

Detailed Description

The pilot study will take place at four centers within a network of Catholic Charities Early Head Start and Head Start Centers in New Orleans, Louisiana. Two centers will serve as intervention sites and two as comparison sites. Over 90% of the network centers' students identify as Black, and all qualify for federally funded free meals and snacks. The intervention will include: (1) assisting ECEs with conducting self-assessments; (2) connecting ECEs with local farmers and food producers; (3) providing technical assistance for menu changes, procuring healthy food, identifying and implementing best feeding practices and policies for the environment; (4) delivering nutrition education; and (5) connecting parents/guardians with local food resources and affordable fresh food to be consumed at home. The intervention will be implemented for 6 months.

Aim 1 uses a cross-sectional mixed methods design, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data in intervention centers. Aim 2 uses a pre-post design with a comparison group, collecting quantitative survey data at the center and parent level. At baseline and six-month follow-up, the investigators will conduct short surveys with staff and parents/caregivers of children attending ECEs.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 228
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Louisiana
    • New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 70125
      • Xavier University of Louisiana

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria (Key informant interviews and center assessments):

• Director or staff of participating center
• 18 years of age minimum

Exclusion Criteria (Key informant interviews and center assessments):

• Staff not involved with educational programming

Inclusion Criteria (Parent/guardian surveys):

• Parent or guardian of current student at participating center
• 18 years of age minimum

Exclusion Criteria (Parent/guardian surveys):

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Center; The intervention will include: (1) assisting ECEs with conducting self-assessments; (2) connecting ECEs with local farmers and food producers; (3) providing technical assistance for menu changes, procuring healthy food, identifying and implementing best feeding practices and policies for the environment; (4) delivering nutrition education; and (5) connecting parents/guardians with local food resources and affordable fresh food to be consumed at home	Behavioral: Farm to ECE programming; Students and parents at this center will receive program elements described in arm descriptions.
No Intervention: Comparison; No programming at center, only surveys

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
incidence of parent/guardian use of community food resources	Parent/guardian surveys will ask questions about use of community food resources. Frequencies will be calculated based on results.	6 months
nutrition environment score measured by NAPSACC	Environmental assessments and pre/post staff surveys using validated tools (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care NAPSACC) will be used to determine changes in the nutrition environment and healthy options. Nutrition environment scores will be calculated using the tool scoring guide.	6 months
percent completion of program components (fidelity)	Staff will be asked to complete tracking records of all executed program components. Percent completion will be calculated by dividing program components executed by total program components.	6 months
satisfaction score with program implementation	Staff will be asked to complete a post intervention survey to indicate their satisfaction (scale of 1-5) with the program implementation and its components.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Xavier University of Louisiana.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Megan Knapp, PhD, Xavier University of Louisiana.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 14, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 12, 2024
• Last Verified: August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB881-23

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