Effects of an Urban-gardening Nutrition Intervention for Food Insecure College Students (UGNIFICS)

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an urban gardening nutrition education program can have positive health effects on food insecure college students. The main question it aims to answer is to determine whether an 8-week urban-gardening nutrition intervention can improve fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition knowledge, Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat percentage in college students with food insecurity.

Participants will:

Fill out a questionnaire regarding demographics, food insecurity, fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy and health beliefs.

Allow researchers to measure height, weight and body fat percentage Participate in a 1-hour education cooking or gardening session once a week for 8 weeks Receive text message reminders for meeting dates

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Food Insecurity; Obesity Prevention
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Gardening Nutrition Education Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 107
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33330
      • Florida International University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be enrolled at FIU
• Age 18+ years old
• Literate in English
• Food insecure

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who are student athletes
• Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Gardening Nutrition Education Program; Intervention group participants completed in person 1-hour educational sessions, once a week for 6 weeks, and completed the post test and anthropometric measurements on the 7th week. The sessions included nutrition education, recipes, cooking demos, home gardening tips, and a take home vertical garden. A satisfaction survey was also administered at the last educational session (week 6). Multiple weekly sessions were scheduled to accommodate the participants' schedules. Sessions were capped at 12 students to allow for a more personalized experience. Text messages were used weekly to remind the participants and confirm attendance for each session.	Behavioral: Gardening Nutrition Education Program; This intervention was a 6-week Social Cognitive Theory based, urban gardening, cooking and nutrition education program designed to change health behavior mediators, fruit and vegetable intake, stress, and life satisfaction in food insecure college students.
No Intervention: Control Group; Participants in this group did not receive the intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline in the Mean Fruit and Vegetable Intake at 8 Weeks	Fruit and vegetable intake was measured using the National Cancer Institute's Fruit and Vegetable Screener as well as through a 1-item question, "Yesterday, how many servings of fruits and vegetables did you consume?" Higher numbers indicate higher levels of fruit and vegetable intake.	From enrollment to the end of interventiont at 8 weeks
Change from Baseline in the Mean Stress Scores at 8 Weeks	Stress levels was measured using Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale. Higher numbers indicate higher levels of stress.	From enrollment to the end of interventiont at 8 weeks
Change from Baseline in the Mean Life Satisfaction Scores at 8 Weeks	Life Satisfaction was measured using Diener's Quality of Life. Higher numbers indicate higher levels of life satisfaction.	From enrollment to the end of interventiont at 8 weeks
Change from Baseline in the Mean Body Mass Index Scores at 8 Weeks	Anthropometrics were collected from all participants using standard techniques. Height was measured barefoot by stadiometer and weight was measured barefoot by a digital scale, with empty pockets and without heavy clothing such as sweaters. Participants will also self-report their height and weight for reference. BMI was calculated using the standard equation using height (cm) and weight (kg) Higher numbers indicate higher BMI.	From enrollment to the end of interventiont at 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline in the Mean Nutrition Knowledge Scores	Nutrition knowledge was measured using an adapted version of 20- item Dickson-Spillmann Consumer Oriented Nutrition Knowledge Survey (CoNKS). 10 population relevant True or False style questions were included. Higher numbers indicate higher levels of nutrition knowledge.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 8 weeks
Change from Baseline in the Mean Self Efficacy, Outcome Expectation and Reciprocal Determinism	Behavior change was measured through Social Cognitive Theory constructs. These will be measured through Dewar's SCT constructs scales. Higher numbers indicate higher levels of self-efficacy, outcome expectations and reciprocal determinism.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Florida International University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 5, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 5, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): August 5, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2025
• Last Verified: February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: nutrition education; college students; social cognitive theory; College student food insecurity; Gardening nutrition intervention
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-19-0134

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