Austin, Texas — What children eat affects their lifelong health. However, influencing their habits can be difficult, especially for poorly serviced families with scarce resources. However, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical College, providing caregivers with easy access to products and flexible resources can help improve a child’s diet in a short amount of time. There is sex.
Randomized clinical trials announced today JAMA network openWas led by Dell Med’s Factor Health Initiative and funded by a grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The team set out to assess how providing caregivers with free four-week produce and grocery gift card tastings could affect a child’s ability to adjust their diet.
Dr. Maninder “Mini” Carlon, Director and Founder of Factor Health, said: “We see if parents can improve their children’s diet by prioritizing easy access to fresh ingredients and the availability of flexible resources as needed. I wanted to. ”
Two groups of randomized clinical trials were conducted from May to July 2021. Researchers began by offering food and grocery store gift cards to caregivers enrolled in an existing curbside program managed by the Boys & Girls Club (BGCAA) in the Austin area. Every four weeks, the caregiver received a £ 10 fruit and vegetable box and a $ 10 gift card from the grocery store HEB at the BGCAA site.
“These families were part of the’Clubon the Go’program, which was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jenn Barnes, head of club operations at BGCAA. “By integrating food box and gift card deliveries into regular site visits, we no longer have the burden and inconvenience of making additional trips to receive them.”
Researchers evaluated the diets of children and caregivers using the Texas School Physical Activity and Nutrition (Texas SPAN) tool developed by the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at intervals of 4 and 8 weeks. They observed that, on average, children ate additional healthy foods twice daily compared to the control group and continued to eat healthy after the program was completed. ..
“Our research team has confirmed that children’s consumption of agricultural products is increasing, and importantly, a healthy diet continued during the four-week follow-up period after the program. “Kahlon, who is also an associate professor of artificial health at Dell Med, said. .. “This is especially noteworthy given that caregivers did not have to use gift cards to purchase health foods.”
Caregivers were given an additional $ 10 gift card during the last three weeks of the program if they completed a short enhancement study that reminded them of the program’s healthy eating goals. You could also choose a one-time $ 25 food cooking tool, such as a children’s kitchen set, food blender, knife, or spice kit.
“The caregiver received an average of $ 42 a HEB gift card and £ 27 produce in four weeks,” said Dr. Deanna Hoelscher, a collaborator on the Factor Health team, Dean of the UT Health School of Public Health. Director of Austin Campus and Michael & Susandel Health and Living Center. “We also provided support for each produce box, including bilingual and culturally relevant recipes customized to the contents of the box and helpful advice on how to store the produce.”
Improving health outside clinics and hospitals
“In the context of social determinants of health, our healthcare system is creative and the opportunities for the Dell Med team to work on what we call health in the health landscape, the landscape of people’s lives, are endless. There seems to be one, “Carlon said. That’s where programs such as Factor Health come in. Bringing together community-based organizations, health payers and investors in new ways to rethink the path to the health of especially vulnerable people.
The Christensen Institute introduced Factor Health as an innovative business model in its white paper on social driving forces for health, published earlier this week.
Funded by the Houston-based Episcopal Health Foundation, Factor Health is preparing to begin a major BGCAA study of elementary school students in central Texas that incorporates learning from this clinical trial. .. Factor Health works with medical payers, such as Medicaid’s managed care organizations, to create health and business cases to maintain effective social programs by paying for critical outcomes.
“We have found that caregivers do not have to be constrained to healthy purchases in order to make healthy choices for their children. Very quick results were obtained.” Carlon said. “As we move forward, how much we can improve our children’s diet with a long-term program that provides parents with the resources to experiment and create unique strategies that work in their lives. looking forward to it.”
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