SPICE UP MyPlate - Strategy for Promoting Intake of Delicious Healthful Dietary Patterns Based on MyPlate: A Pilot Study

The aim is to conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of culinary focused nutrition education to promote increased adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans compared to standard low-intensity care.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Culinary focused nutrition education; Behavioral: Standard low intensity nutrition education

Detailed Description

This is a 15-week, 2-arm randomized controlled pilot trial. In a 1:1 ratio, participants will be randomized to the intervention arm or the control arm. The intervention group will receive a 12-week culinary focused nutrition education program. The control group will receive standard low-intensity care (i.e., printed healthy eating material). Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline and 15 weeks.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 55
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, 16802
      • Pennsylvania State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 31-59 years
• Involved in meal cooking at home and consumes a home cooked meal ≥ 1 time per week
• Individuals taking medications for blood pressure, lipid or glucose lowering will be eligible if they have been on a stable dose for the 1 month prior to baseline

Exclusion Criteria:

• A member of the household is already enrolled (only one person per household will be eligible for inclusion in the study).
• Unstable medical conditions requiring active intervention (surgeries, medication/drug therapy for < 3 months) as assessed during the telephone screening (e.g. cancer, kidney disease requiring dialysis, heart or gastrointestinal diseases requiring surgery).
• Received nutrition education for a medical condition within the past 6 months
• Currently following a weight loss diet
• Lost ≥ 10% body weight in the past 6 months
• Currently (within 6 months) smoke or use any tobacco or nicotine containing products
• Currently pregnant or given birth within the prior 6 months
• Currently participating in another clinical trial
• Principal investigator discretion (e.g., disrespectful or inappropriate interactions with study staff)
• Does not speak or understand English

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Culinary focused nutrition education; The intervention group will receive a 12-week culinary focused nutrition education program. Participants in the intervention group will receive culinary focused nutrition education based on MyPlate with an emphasis on taste and enjoyment of healthy foods. Using herbs and spices to flavor foods will be the emphasis. The intervention will be delivered in an online format with online content delivery . The intervention will consist of eight modules. Modules one to four will be provided during the first month. Modules four to eight will be provided during months 2 and 3.	Behavioral: Culinary focused nutrition education; Culinary focused nutrition education based on MyPlate with an emphasis on taste and enjoyment of healthy foods.
Active Comparator: Standard nutrition education; The control group will represent standard low intensity nutrition education. Control group participants will be provided with a printed MyPlate resource.	Behavioral: Standard low intensity nutrition education; Provided by a written MyPlate resource

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Diet quality change	Change in diet quality assessed by the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) assessed by 24-hour recalls	15 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Diet quality component scores change	Change in the 13 components that comprise the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) assessed by 24 hour recalls	15 weeks
Food group intake change	Changes in intake of fruits; vegetables; refined grains; wholegrains; dairy; meat, poultry, eggs; seafood; nuts, seeds and soy products; oils) assessed by 24-hour recalls	15 weeks
Change in intake of added sugars, sodium and saturated fat	Changes in intake of added sugars, sodium and saturated fat assessed by 24 hour recalls	15 weeks
Change in weight	assessed by electronic scale	15 weeks
Change in waist circumference	Assessed by tape measure at 1 cm above the naval	15 weeks
Change in central systolic and diastolic blood pressure	Assessed using a SphymoCor Xcel (Atcor Medical)	15 weeks
Change in brachial systolic and diastolic blood pressure	Blood pressure measured assessed using a SphymoCor Xcel (Atcor Medical)	15 weeks
Change in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity	Assessed using a SphymoCor Xcel (Atcor Medical)	15 weeks
Change in LDL-cholesterol	Assessed from fasting blood draw expressed in mg/dL. LDL-cholesterol will be measured directly via enzymatic assay.	15 weeks
Change in total cholesterol	Assessed from fasting blood draw expressed in mg/dL.	15 weeks
Change in HDL-Cholesterol	Assessed from fasting blood draw expressed in mg/dL.	15 weeks
Change in triglycerides	Assessed from fasting blood draw expressed in mg/dL.	15 weeks
Change in fasting glucose	Assessed in a fasting blood draw and expressed in mg/dL	15 weeks
Change in HbA1c	Assessed in a fasting blood draw and expressed in %	15 weeks
Program acceptability and satisfaction	Assessed via surveys	15 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Penn State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kristina Petersen, PhD, Penn State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 28, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 12, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): December 12, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 17, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: nutrition education; culinary medicine; diet quality
• Other Study ID Numbers: SUP

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Statistical analysis plan will be uploaded before database lock and unblinding of randomization codes
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP

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