Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine - Acres Homes

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of an adapted virtual Culinary Medicine (CM) curriculum on dietary behaviors, nutrition knowledge, and cooking skills and behaviors on outcomes such as HbA1c levels, Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides, as well as to determine the feasibility and reproducibility of virtual synchronous CM classes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diabetes; Elevated Body Mass Index
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Culinary Medicine Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 89
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Receiving care at UT Physicians clinics
• diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and elevated body mass index (>=25)
• HbA1c labs and clinic-assessed weight completed within the last 3 months
• English speaking or Spanish speaking
• Can obtain groceries before each class (intervention group only)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients without the technological support needed to participate (e.g., reliable internet and device - cell phone, tablet or laptop)
• Patients with an uncontrolled impairment that interferes with ability to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Clinics Receiving the Culinary Medicine Program; Participants will take part in the Culinary Medicine Program and will be recruited at University of Texas (UT) Physician Clinics serving the Acres Homes neighborhood in Houston.	Behavioral: Culinary Medicine Program; The virtual curriculum will include five 90-minute sessions (to be held weekly or bi-weekly) on basic cooking skills with behaviorally-based nutrition education. Participants will also be expected to shop for groceries ahead of the sessions to participate in the program. A gift card will be provided for groceries. Asynchronous virtual educational content (cooking skills videos, animated nutrition education videos, and additional recipes) will be provided to engage and retain participants beyond initial sessions.
No Intervention: Control Clinics; Participants will be recruited from UT Physicians clinics outside of the Acres Homes service area.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Level	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Body Mass Index	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Systolic Blood Pressure	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Diastolic Blood Pressure	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
High-density Lipoprotein (HDL) Level	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Low-density Lipoprotein (LDL) Level	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Triglyceride Level	Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Perceived Health as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	This is a 1-item questionnaire that asks "Overall, how would you rate your health in the past four weeks?," and it is reported categorically in 6 categories: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, and Very Poor.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	This is a 1-item questionnaire that asks "How many servings of VEGETABLES do you eat or drink each day?," and it is reported as number of servings consumed each day. Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Whole Grain Consumption as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	This is a 1-item questionnaire that asks "How many servings of Whole Grains do you eat each day?," and it is reported categorically in 6 categories: 4 servings or more; 2-3 servings; 1-2 servings; 1/2 to 1 serving; 1/2 serving or less; or none.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Typical Healthy Food Consumption Behaviors as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 0-4, with a higher score indicating greater healthy food consumption behaviors. Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Perceived Barriers of Eating Fruits and Vegetables as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 1 to 5, with a higher score indicating less barriers.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Eating, Cooking, and Shopping (i.e., Using Nutrition Label) Behaviors as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 0-4, with a higher score indicating better eating, cooking, and shopping behaviors. Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Barriers to Healthy Eating as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 1 to 5, with a higher score indicating less barriers. This outcome measure includes assessment of barriers to eating fruits and vegetables, as well as barriers to overall healthy eating. Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Self-efficacy in Cooking Food and Meal Planning as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 1 to 5, with a greater score indicating greater self-efficacy. Marginal mean is reported.	baseline (within 90 days of starting the NCCM program), at program completion (within 90 days of NCCM program completion)
Diabetes Self-Management as Assessed by the Nourishing the Community Through Culinary Medicine Survey (NCCM)	Total score ranges from 1 to 4, with a higher score indicating better diabetes self-management. Marginal mean is reported.	Baseline, post intervention (up to 10 weeks after baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Collaborators: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Natalia I Heredia, PhD., MPH, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 8, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): October 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 17, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 17, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): October 23, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Endocrine System Diseases; Metabolic Diseases; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Diabetes Mellitus
• Other Study ID Numbers: HSC-SPH-23-0810; 1U54CA280804-01 (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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No