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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05542537

Nurturing Healthy Teachers

The purpose of this trial is to compare the impact of a fruit and vegetable access plus nutrition education intervention to a nutrition education-only control on the health, well-being, and food security of early care and education (ECE) professionals. The intervention, called Nurturing Healthy Teachers, combines strategies from two evidence-based programs - Create Healthy Futures (CHF) and Brighter Bites (BB).

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Key information

Conditions

Nutrition, Healthy Body Weight Diabetes Mellitus Risk Mental Health Wellness 1 Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Obesity Overnutrition Overweight Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Houston, Texas, 77030, United States

About this study

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the impact of the Nurturing Healthy Teachers program on food insecurity, dietary behaviors, mental health, and cardiometabolic health among early care and education (ECE) professionals who teach Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten. Nurturing Healthy Teachers is a novel, comprehensive program that combines strategies from two evidence-based programs - Brighter Bites (implemented by Brighter Bites 501c3 non-profit) and Create Healthy Futures (implemented by Penn State Better Kid Care).

  • Brighter Bites (BB) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that implements an evidence-based coordinated school health program that combines access to fresh produce and nutrition education proven to improve dietary intake among preschool and elementary school teachers, low-income children, and their families. For 16 weeks in the school year, Brighter Bites teachers and families receive a weekly distribution of about 20 lbs (50 servings) of primarily donated fresh vegetables, plus weekly healthy recipe tastings, and nutrition education. The program has proven effectiveness at engaging teachers, parents, increasing healthy dietary behaviors and improving the school and home nutrition environment of low-income elementary school children in the short-term.
  • Developed and implemented by Penn State Extension Better Kid Care (BKC), Create Healthy Futures (CHF) is a web-based nutrition education program that targets nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy, mindfulness, and social support to create healthy habits among teachers. CHF also includes facilitated group meetings to reinforce information from the online modules.

The trial will be conducted in 30 elementary schools that have pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes that serve predominantly low-income families in Houston. Schools in the intervention arm (n=15) will receive Brighter Bites plus the complete Create Healthy Futures program including online modules and in-person meetings, and they will be drawn from schools that are already scheduled to receive Brighter Bites during the 2022-2023 school year. Schools in the control arm (n=15) will only receive passive access to the online modules of the Create Healthy Futures program, and they will be drawn from remaining schools across the district, as long as they have not participated in Brighter Bites in the previous two years. The intervention and control programs will be implemented over one school year (9months). Brighter Bites non-profit organization and Penn State Better Kid Care will implement the Nurturing Healthy Teachers program, while UTHealth School of Public Health investigators will conduct the evaluation of the program.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

for Teachers:

  • Employed as a pre-K or kindergarten teaching staff at the participating study schools in the 2022-2023 school year.
  • Ability to read English at the 4th grade reading level
  • Ability to complete study measures

Exclusion criteria

for Teachers:

  • Have recently (in the past 6 months) or are currently participating in an exercise or weight loss program

Inclusion criteria

for Schools:

  • Have at least 25 eligible early childhood education (ECE) professionals

Treatment and study plan

Brighter Bites (BB) Produce Distribution

Behavioral

For 16 weeks in the school year, teachers in participating program schools will receive distributions of 8-10 different types of produce items.

Brighter Bites (BB) Nutrition Education

Behavioral

Brighter Bites Nutrition Education will consist of recipes, food preparation and storage ideas, and tips and tools to budget and plan meals. Teachers will be trained in a nutrition education curriculum, which will be implemented in the program schools as part of the BB program.

Create Healthy Futures (CHF) Weekly Wellness Groups

Behavioral

Peer-facilitators will lead virtual weekly group discussions. Penn State Better Kid Care will train the wellness facilitators.

Create Healthy Futures (CHF) Web-Based Module

Behavioral

Create Healthy Futures Web-Based Module is self-paced and focuses on the following topics: 1) Introduction, 2) Challenges of the food environment, 3) Nutrition and your health, 4) Food culture reform, and 5) Providers' role in creating healthy futures. The Create Healthy Futures module utilizes several educational methods to increase interactivity and engagement, including video footage of content experts, reflection activities, downloadable handouts, and action planning. Each chapter takes approximately 30-40 minutes to complete. The program is delivered on the Better Kid Care On Demand platform, an asynchronous learning management system that provides professional development training for teachers in all 50 states and 69 countries.

Primary outcomes

  1. Household Food Insecurity as assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture self-report food insecurity survey

    Time frame: baseline

    Household Food insecurity will be measured on an electronically administered using the 10-item self-report previously validated U.S. Department of Agriculture food insecurity survey. The survey will measure food insecurity over the past 30 days. The total score is the sum of affirmative responses to the 10 questions, with a total score range of 0-10. Scores indicate the following about extent of food insecurity:

    • score of zero-High food security
    • score of 1-2-Marginal food security
    • score of 3-5-Low food security
    • score of 6-10-Very low food security

  2. Household Food Insecurity as assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture self-report food insecurity measure

    Time frame: 4 months

    Household Food insecurity will be measured on an electronically administered using the 10-item self-report previously validated U.S. Department of Agriculture food insecurity survey. The survey will measure food insecurity over the past 30 days. The total score is the sum of affirmative responses to the 10 questions, with a total score range of 0-10. Scores indicate the following about extent of food insecurity:

    • score of zero-High food security
    • score of 1-2-Marginal food security
    • score of 3-5-Low food security
    • score of 6-10-Very low food security

  3. Household Food Insecurity as assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture self-report food insecurity measure

    Time frame: 9 months

    Household Food insecurity will be measured on an electronically administered using the 10-item self-report previously validated U.S. Department of Agriculture food insecurity survey. The survey will measure food insecurity over the past 30 days. The total score is the sum of affirmative responses to the 10 questions, with a total score range of 0-10. Scores indicate the following about extent of food insecurity:

    • score of zero-High food security
    • score of 1-2-Marginal food security
    • score of 3-5-Low food security
    • score of 6-10-Very low food security

  4. Household Food Insecurity as assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture self-report food insecurity measure

    Time frame: 14 months

    Household Food insecurity will be measured on an electronically administered using the 10-item self-report previously validated U.S. Department of Agriculture food insecurity survey. The survey will measure food insecurity over the past 30 days. The total score is the sum of affirmative responses to the 10 questions, with a total score range of 0-10. Scores indicate the following about extent of food insecurity:

    • score of zero-High food security
    • score of 1-2-Marginal food security
    • score of 3-5-Low food security
    • score of 6-10-Very low food security

Secondary outcomes

  1. Dietary intake as assessed by self-report survey

    Time frame: baseline

    Dietary intake will be self-reported on an electronically administered survey using a food frequency screener. The survey items will measure the frequency of consumption of various foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, water, beverages, desserts, processed food, and candy. Data will be reported categorically as the number of times the surveyed foods were consumed.

  2. Dietary intake as assessed by self-report survey

    Time frame: 9 months

    Dietary intake will be self-reported on an electronically administered survey using a food frequency screener. The survey items will measure the frequency of consumption of various foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, water, beverages, desserts, processed food, and candy. Data will be reported categorically as the number of times the surveyed foods were consumed.

  3. Anxiety as assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) survey

    Time frame: baseline

    The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD) survey has a total score from 0 to 21, with a higher score indicating greater anxiety.

  4. Anxiety as assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) survey

    Time frame: 9 months

    The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD) survey has a total score from 0 to 21, with a higher score indicating greater anxiety.

  5. Anxiety as assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) survey

    Time frame: 14 months

    The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD) survey has a total score from 0 to 21, with a higher score indicating greater anxiety.

  6. Anxiety impact as assessed by the impact item of the GAD-7 survey

    Time frame: baseline

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the GAD-7, they will be asked how difficult the anxiety-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  7. Anxiety impact as assessed by the impact item of the GAD-7 survey

    Time frame: 9 months

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the GAD-7, they will be asked how difficult the anxiety-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  8. Anxiety impact as assessed by the impact item of the GAD-7 survey

    Time frame: 14 months

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the GAD-7, they will be asked how difficult the anxiety-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  9. Depression as assessed by the Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

    Time frame: baseline

    The Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9) has a total score of 0 to 27, with a higher score indicating greater depression.

  10. Depression as assessed by the Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

    Time frame: 9 months

    The Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9) has a total score of 0 to 27, with a higher score indicating greater depression.

  11. Depression as assessed by the Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

    Time frame: 14 months

    The Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire (PHQ-9) has a total score of 0 to 27, with a higher score indicating greater depression.

  12. Depression impact as assessed by the impact item of the PHQ-9

    Time frame: baseline

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the PHQ-9, they will be asked how difficult the depression-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  13. Depression impact as assessed by the impact item of the PHQ-9

    Time frame: 9 months

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the PHQ-9, they will be asked how difficult the depression-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  14. Depression impact as assessed by the impact item of the PHQ-9

    Time frame: 14 months

    For participants who scored 1 or above on the PHQ-9, they will be asked how difficult the depression-related issues have made it to do work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Not difficult at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult; Extremely difficult; Prefer not to say.

  15. Well-being as assessed by the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5)

    Time frame: baseline

    The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) has a total score or 0 -25, with a higher score indicating greater well-being.

  16. Well-being as assessed by the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5)

    Time frame: 9 months

    The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) has a total score or 0 -25, with a higher score indicating greater well-being.

  17. Well-being as assessed by the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5)

    Time frame: 14 months

    The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) has a total score or 0 -25, with a higher score indicating greater well-being.

  18. General health as assessed by the general health item of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) 4-item questionnaire (CDC HRQoL-4)

    Time frame: baseline

    Only one item on the CDC HRQoL-4 will be asked, and this is the item related to general health. Participants will be asked if they would say that in general that their health is Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, Poor, or Prefer not to say. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Excellent; Very good; Good; Fair; Poor; Prefer not to say.

  19. General health as assessed by the general health item of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) 4-item questionnaire (CDC HRQoL-4)

    Time frame: 9 months

    Only one item on the CDC HRQoL-4 will be asked, and this is the item related to general health. Participants will be asked if they would say that in general that their health is Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, Poor, or Prefer not to say. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Excellent; Very good; Good; Fair; Poor; Prefer not to say.

  20. General health as assessed by the general health item of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) 4-item questionnaire (CDC HRQoL-4)

    Time frame: 14 months

    Only one item on the CDC HRQoL-4 will be asked, and this is the item related to general health. Participants will be asked if they would say that in general that their health is Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, Poor, or Prefer not to say. Data will be reported categorically as number of participants who answered: Excellent; Very good; Good; Fair; Poor; Prefer not to say.

  21. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level as assessed by blood test

    Time frame: baseline

    Finger stick blood samples will be obtained from teachers in the school, and HbA1c level in the blood sample will be analyzed.

  22. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level as assessed by blood test

    Time frame: 9 months

    Finger stick blood samples will be obtained from teachers in the school, and HbA1c level in the blood sample will be analyzed.

  23. Blood pressure (systolic) as assessed by automated oscillometric device

    Time frame: baseline

    Blood pressure measurements will be taken using an automated oscillometric device.

  24. Blood pressure (systolic) as assessed by automated oscillometric device

    Time frame: 9 months

    Blood pressure measurements will be taken using an automated oscillometric device.

  25. Blood pressure (diastolic) as assessed by automated oscillometric device

    Time frame: baseline

    Blood pressure measurements will be taken using an automated oscillometric device.

  26. Blood pressure (diastolic) as assessed by automated oscillometric device

    Time frame: 9 months

    Blood pressure measurements will be taken using an automated oscillometric device.

  27. Skin carotenoid level as assessed by The Veggie Meter

    Time frame: baseline

    Skin carotenoid level will be assessed by The Veggie Meter, which is a small, portable non-invasive device that can be clipped to the finger briefly to detect skin carotenoid concentrations in ∼15-20 seconds for a single reading.

  28. Skin carotenoid level as assessed by The Veggie Meter

    Time frame: 9 months

    Skin carotenoid level will be assessed by The Veggie Meter, which is a small, portable non-invasive device that can be clipped to the finger briefly to detect skin carotenoid concentrations in ∼15-20 seconds for a single reading.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Other

Collaborators

  • Brighter Bites
  • Penn State Better Kid Care
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Vitamix Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Nurturing Healthy Teachers: A Cluster-RCT to Improve the Health, Well-being, and Food Security of Early Care and Education (ECE) Professionals

Acronym: NHT

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
Sep 15, 2022
Registry last updated
Jul 9, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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