FEAST Perinatal Support Program Intervention

Evaluating the Food Education Access Support Together (FEAST) Perinatal Support Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Latino individuals face an elevated risk of adverse health outcomes during pregnancy, impacting both the birthing parent and the baby with potential long-term chronic health conditions. While promoting a healthy diet during pregnancy is a promising strategy, interventions targeting dietary behaviors have yielded mixed results and lack widespread dissemination in communities in need. Collaborating with community-based organizations could enhance cultural relevance, build trust with Latino families, and improve program reach and effectiveness. Food Education Access Support Together (FEAST) is a community-based program that promotes healthy eating, well-being, and health equity for diverse, under-resourced urban populations in Los Angeles. The newly developed FEAST Perinatal Support Program (PSP) aims to support individuals through pregnancy and postpartum by providing dietary psychoeducation, skill-building, and social support, with an additional component of grocery gift cards to address food access barriers. This study proposes a pilot trial to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the FEAST PSP in enhancing dietary outcomes, overall health, and socio-cognitive precursors, in pregnant individuals. The study will enroll 40 pregnant adults in a single-arm study who will receive the core PSP with a $15 gift card for healthful fresh food (PSP+giftcard). Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include questionnaires, dietary recalls, physical measurements, and interviews to evaluate program perceptions. Specific aims include evaluating program feasibility and acceptability (i.e., reach, retention, and participant perceptions) and determining preliminary efficacy on changing socio-cognitive and behavioral aspects of diet, self-reported health, and cardiometabolic risk factors. The project aligns with goals of improving health outcomes in Latino families in Southern California and supports FEAST's strategic objectives for improving health and wellness of individuals during pregnancy and throughout the lifespan. The findings will inform program refinement and future NIH grants for rigorous evaluation of the FEAST PSP.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Obesity; Diet, Healthy; Cardiometabolic Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: FEAST Perinatal Support Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Tyler B Mason, PhD; Phone Number: (323) 442-8203; Email: tylermas@usc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90032
      • Recruiting
      • University of Southern California

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Currently pregnant
• Speak and read English
• Eligible for Electronics Benefit Transfer (EBT) and/or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to attend in-person sessions

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: FEAST Perinatal Support Program; Active behavioral intervention

Behavioral: FEAST Perinatal Support Program; The intervention will include the core perinatal support program (PSP) with $15 weekly grocery gift cards for healthful food (fruit, vegetables, whole grains), The PSP will be completed during weekly group sessions over 16 weeks. The core PSP includes the two primary behavior change techniques: group-based nutrition education based on current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) national guidelines for pregnant individuals and guided group sharing and engagement.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Eating and Weight Self-Efficacy (HEWSE) score	The HEWSE is a self-report questionnaire that assesses healthy eating and healthy weight self-efficacy. The scores range from 1-5 with higher scores indicating better self-efficacy.	Current self-efficacy at baseline and immediately post-assessment
Motivation for Dietary Self-Control Scale score	The Motivation for Dietary Self-Control Scale is a self-report questionnaire that assesses motivations for dietary change with three sub scales: Dietary Goal-Desire Incongruence, Motivation for Dietary Self-control, and Satisfaction with Dietary Behavior. The scores for each subscale range from 0-6 with higher scores indicating better motivation.	Current motivation at baseline and immediately post-assessment
Mini-EAT 9-item score	Aggregate score of 9 items on the Mini-EAT survey	Survey at baseline and immediately post-assessment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) 29 Profile v2.0 score	The PROMIS is a self-report questionnaire measuring overall physical and mental health. PROMIS scores range from 0-5 with higher scores indicating worse mental and physical health.	Past 7-day symptoms at baseline and immediately post-assessment
Body Mass Index value	Body mass index is calculated using measured height and weight. Higher scores indicate greater obesity risk.	Current at baseline and immediately post-assessment
Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) recording	HbA1c is calculated using finger prick blood test. Values typically range from 5 to 12 with lower scores indicating less diabetes risk.	Current at baseline and immediately post-assessment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); Children's Hospital Los Angeles
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tyler B Mason, PhD, University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): February 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 2, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 3, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): December 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Insulin Resistance; Hyperinsulinism; Overweight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: APP-24-02282; P50MD017344 (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