Phipps Conservatory's 5210 Let's Move Pittsburgh and Impact on Youth With T1D

August 18, 2026 updated by: Ingrid Libman, University of Pittsburgh

Managing T1D requires a demanding regimen to keep blood sugars in control and stay healthy. Despite recent advances, this remains extremely challenging for children and their families, who usually report having the most difficulty with the healthy eating aspect of the management, sometimes more so than having to administer insulin or monitor sugar levels. In addition to high sugars, the rise in obesity in the last decades has contributed to the risk of long-term complications of T1D such as cardiovascular disease and renal failure.

More than a third of youngsters with T1D are now overweight which makes the management of T1D much more challenging. The problem of obesity is much greater in the socially and economically disadvantaged groups as healthy eating is considered expensive. To educate kids with T1D and their families on healthy eating on a reasonable budget, in partnership with Phipps Conservatory's 5210 Let's Move Pittsburgh program, the investigators initiated virtual cooking classes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This proposal's objective is to start to evaluate the potential medical benefits as the investigators expand this program.

The investigators expect the children who participate will show improvement in diabetes control, favorable decrease or maintenance of their weight and BMI when compared to their pre-intervention visit and to the control group, and improved knowledge about nutrition and healthy food choices when comparing pre- and post-intervention assessments.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Managing T1D requires a demanding regimen to keep blood sugars in control and stay healthy. Despite recent advances, this remains extremely challenging for children and their families, who usually report having the most difficulty with the healthy eating aspect of the management, sometimes more so than having to administer insulin or monitor sugar levels. In addition to high sugars, the rise in obesity in the last decades has contributed to the risk of long-term complications of T1D such as cardiovascular disease and renal failure.

More than a third of youngsters with T1D are now overweight which makes the management of T1D much more challenging. The problem of obesity is much greater in the socially and economically disadvantaged groups as healthy eating is considered expensive. To educate kids with T1D and their families on healthy eating on a reasonable budget, in partnership with Phipps Conservatory's 5210 Let's Move Pittsburgh program, the investigators initiated virtual cooking classes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program included 25 adolescents (11-16 years of age) with T1D, 20% Black or biracial and ~30% with socio-economic disadvantage.

This proposal's objective is to start to evaluate the potential medical benefits as the investigators expand this program. Youth with T1D (12 to 17 years of age) who are also overweight (body mass index (BMI) > 85th percentile)will be invited to participate and enroll.

The program will consist of two classes monthly (virtual) for three months (in addition to their routine diabetes care). A total of 60 children will be enrolled (20 per cohort) and "matched" to an equal number of youth from the pediatric diabetes clinic at UPMC CHP who will not participate in the program and will serve as controls. Pre- and post-program assessments will be conducted to include metrics of glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) parameters), clinical parameters such as weight and BMI, measurements of lipids, questionnaires on dietary knowledge, and quantity and quality of food consumption based on food logs.

The investigators expect the children who participate will show improvement in diabetes control, favorable decrease or maintenance of their weight and BMI when compared to their pre-intervention visit and to the control group, and improved knowledge about nutrition and healthy food choices when comparing pre- and postintervention assessments.

The aim of this study is to determine whether participation in an innovative community-based nutritional education program in addition to routine care (intervention group) improves glycemic control as assessed by change in HbA1c (primary outcome) as well as change in weight, BMI, and diabetes-related dietary knowledge (secondary outcomes) in youth 12 to 17 years old with T1D.

The investigators hypothesize that those participating in this program will have decrease in HbA1c and decrease or maintenance of BMI following the intervention. Furthermore, these changes will not be seen in the control group. Those in the intervention group will also experience increased dietary knowledge/food choices after undergoing the intervention when comparing pre- and post-assessments. In addition, for those who use CGMS, (Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems), the investigators will also evaluate the impact of the intervention on CGM parameters.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

46

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15224
        • UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • be diagnosed with T1D for at least a year
  • be 12 to 17 years of age at time of study enrollment
  • have a BMI ≥ 85th percentile
  • be able to communicate via a virtual platform if needed
  • intend to maintain status as a patient at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Diabetes Center throughout the study duration.

Exclusion Criteria:

- diagnosis of other types of diabetes (such as type 2 diabetes, MODY, cystic fibrosis related diabetes or diabetes secondary to medications).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual cooking classes
Two cooking classes monthly (virtual) for three months (in addition to their routine diabetes care) with the support of a diabetes educator, nutritionist, and professional chef.
Two cooking classes monthly (virtual) for three months (in addition to their routine diabetes care) with the support of a diabetes educator, nutritionist, and professional chef.
Meet with multidisciplinary diabetes care team, including clinician, nutritionist, and diabetes educator, every 3 months to review glycemic control, general health, and medication management.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Hemoglobin A1c
Time Frame: From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Metric of glycemic control: change in HbA1c from pre- to post- intervention.
From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Weight
Time Frame: From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in weight (kg) from pre- to post- intervention.
From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in BMI
Time Frame: From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in BMI (kg/m^2) from pre- to post- intervention.
From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in dietary knowledge
Time Frame: From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in dietary knowledge assessed using the Type 1 Diabetes Nutrition Knowledge Survey, validated questionnaire as well as quantity and quality of food consumption based on food logs from pre- to post- intervention. This 23-item measure assesses diabetes & general nutritional knowledge, scored based on the number of correct items with a range from 0-100%., with a higher percentage indicating more correct answers.
From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Change in food quality and quantity
Time Frame: From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.
Based on food logs, which include the food item and quantity for all meals consumed, from pre- to post- intervention.
From baseline clinic visit (pre cooking classes) to nearest post clinic visit after last cooking class, up to 8 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ingrid Libman, MD, PhD, UPMC Children's Hopsital of Pittsburgh

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 4, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 19, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

March 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 7, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 21, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 18, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified IPD that underlies results reported in publication.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD will be made available after publication of primary results; available indefinitely.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Investigators whose proposed research has received IRB approval will be able to access de-identified IPD that underlies published results, study protocol, SAP, and ICF.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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