Using Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Urban High School Students

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Poor Nutrition
• Interventions: Other: Adding spices and herbs to school lunch vegetables

• Registration Number: NCT02908854
• Lead Sponsor: University of Maryland, Baltimore

Brief Summary

A two-phase, school-based intervention will be conducted at a high school in Baltimore to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to vegetable dishes in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) can increase vegetable intake among students in an urban and predominantly African-American high school.

Detailed Description

The proposed research will be conducted at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, Maryland. In this two-phase intervention, the research team will work in Phase I with stakeholders throughout the high school community to identify the barriers to vegetable intake in the NSLP in this student population and to determine how spices and herbs might help overcome these barriers. The stakeholders with whom we will collaborate will include students, school administration, and cafeteria staff.

Phase II will focus on the direct measurement of vegetable intake among students both before and after spices and herbs are added to the vegetables in the NSLP. The spiced vegetable recipes that received the most favorable student rankings in the taste tests of Phase I will be offered.

The vegetable recipes flavored with spices and herbs will meet all NSLP requirements for fat, sugar, total calories, and all other guidelines.

Student vegetable intake will be assessed through two outcomes: 1.) plate waste, and 2.) production waste.

Basic Information
|
Recruitment & Eligibility
|
Study & Design
|
Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-09
• Study First Submitted: 2016-09-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2016-09-17
• Study First Posted: 2016-09-21
• Primary Completion: 2017-05
• Study Completion: 2017-06
• Status Verified: 2021-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-09-06
• Last Update Posted: 2021-09-14

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 29

Inclusion Criteria

• Enrolled student at Cristo Rey High School
• Able to read and write English (exclusive to Phase 1 participants)

Read More

Exclusion Criteria

• Does not eat lunch in the Cristo Rey High School cafeteria
• Not willing to complete questionnaires (exclusive to Phase 1 participants)

Read More

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
School Lunch Participants	Adding spices and herbs to school lunch vegetables	School lunch participants will be given vegetables with and without additional spices and herbs to determine if intake will increase with the addition of spices and herbs.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Vegetable plate waste	The overall time frame for the outcome measure assessment is up to 8 months. This will occur during the 2016-2017 school year.	Student vegetable intake will be assessed through plate waste (weighed).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cafeteria production waste as measured by calculating the difference between total prepared vegetable weight and discarded vegetable weight.	The overall time frame for the outcome measure assessment is up to 8 months. This will occur during the 2016-2017 school year.	This outcome involves quantifying both the amount of vegetables that were prepared and served and the amount of vegetables that were thrown away by cafeteria staff after lunch.
Attitudes towards eating vegetables	The outcome measure is being assessed up to 12 months. Spring 2016 through Spring 2017.	Participants will complete a baseline questionnaire in the Spring of 2016 followed by a follow-up questionnaire at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. Changes in attitudes towards eating vegetables will be assessed before and after the addition of spices and herbs to the school lunch vegetables.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Center for Integrative Medicine University of Maryland; 🇺🇸 Baltimore, Maryland, United States