Progress 11/01/23 to 10/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The ACE Program was conducted in person at three NYC Title I funded schools during this reporting period. While we do not target specific demographics, the majority of the 7th and 8th grade students attending the participating schools are Black and mixed race. Changes/Problems:Two additional NYC Title I funded schools were identified to conduct the study. However, establishing communication to prepare the IRB application forapproval through the NYC Department of Education (NYCDOE) Human Subjects Research IRB office to conduct the ACE study did not happen in time to include these schools for the 2024-2025 cohort. Thus, the ACE Full Scale study will be only conducted at the same NYC Title I funded schools during the previous reporting period. Nonetheless, communication and relationships have been established at these two additional NYC Title I funded schools so that a new IRB application can bereviewed for future ACE cohorts. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One Nutritional Sciences PhD student, two professional research staff, and five undergraduate research assistants have been hired to assist with the ACE study. All research staff (doctoral students, undergraduate research assistants, and research staff) have received training on how to collect 24-hour diet record data from adolescents, conduct data entry in the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR), program surveys into Qualtrics, and collect survey data. Additionally, all research staff were trained on how to collect anthropometric measurements using a Tanita scale to measure body fat percentage and weight, stadiometer for height, measuring tape to measure waist circumference, and veggie meter to measure dermal carotenoids. To train staff for program implementation and review the ACE curriculum amendments, we hosted several "teach backs" where research staff role played implementing various components of the program. They received feedback on their instruction and discussed opportunities for improvement. One undergraduate student worked with staff and the PhD student to present findings related to perceived stress and diet quality through a poster and oral presentation. Staff were involved in writing a conference abstract describing the preliminary findings from the pilot study that was accepted as a poster presentation at the annual conference for the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior (Leak, T; Kluemper, E; Potter, C; de Moll, M; 2024). Additionally, they were involved in drafting a manuscript from this project describing the methods of the in-person ACE program implementation intended to be submitted to the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were disseminated through the following presentations: 06/24 The Advanced Cooking Education (ACE) 4-H After School Club Study. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Knoxville, TN. 7/24 Exploring Stress and Diet Quality Among Adolescents from Low-Income Backgrounds, Leadership Alliance National Symposium, Hartford, CT. 8/24 Exploring Stress and Diet Quality Among Adolescents from Low-Income Backgrounds, Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. 09/24 Addressing Inequities in Nutrition and Health Among Adolescents in Urban Spaces. Rising Start Lecture Series. Division of Research and Innovation and the Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences. San Diego State University. San Diego, CA. 11/24 Food, Community, and Wellbeing (Guest Lecture). Science and Technology of Foods (FDSC 1101; Professor: Christopher Loss, PhD). Department of Food Science, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will hire and train new staff to assist with ACE program implementation across NYC. We will begin program implementation for the 2024-2025 cohort in January 2025 with three NYC Title I funded schools. By June 2025, we will complete post-intervention data collection for our 2024-2025 cohort.We will analyze pre/post changes on the measures of interest (R.1). Additionally, we will conduct the focus groups at endpoint data collection (R.2), which will inform a qualitative manuscript. We will begin data collection for our 2025-2026 cohort in October 2025 with our three current NYC Title I funded schools (data on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, professional development, and social and emotional learning competencies). Pending approval from the New York City Department of Education Human Subjects Research IRB, we will begin recruitment of students from 2 additional NYC Title I funded schools in Nov. 2025.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have made progress on Research Objectives 1 and 2 (R.1 and R.2), and Extension Objective 1 (E.1). Since the last report, we completed the ACE Program in-person2023-2024 cohort on May 2024 with a total of 29 students from three NYC Title I funded schools. Focus groups were conducted with these program participants. We completed the six-month follow up (collect data on diet, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, social and emotional learning competencies, and program satisfaction) on 23 of these students in November 2024. Ongoing data analysis assesses data collected on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, interest in careers involving food and nutrition, social and emotional learning competencies, and program satisfaction. We started data collection for the 2024-2025 cohort (24 students) on October 2024 with three NYC Title I funded schools (collected data on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, professional development, and social and emotional learning competencies). Additionally, we have established communication two additional NYC Title I funded schools to include in future ACE cohorts. In terms of E.1, we have amended the ACE curriculum based on feedback and insights gained from last year's cohort. We have updated the ACE website to reflect edits to the ACE curriculum demonstrating that culinary/wellness sessions and professional development sessions alternate weekly across the 12-week program. Additionally, recipe video tutorials have been amended to be more concise for the program audience.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Leak, T., Kluemper, E., Potter, C., de Moll, M., (2024). The Advanced Cooking Education 4-H After-School Club at Low-Income, Urban Middle Schools: Year 1 Preliminary Findings. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 56(8), S98. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2024.05.218
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Progress 11/01/22 to 10/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience: The ACE Program was conducted in person at two New York City (NYC) Title I funded schools during this reporting period. While we do not target specific demographics, the majority of the 7th and 8th grade students attending the participating schools are Black and mixed race. As discussed in the previous report, while no major change to the eligibility criteria has been made, we have invited Catholic schools, in addition to public schools (schools under the jurisdiction of New York City Department of Education [NYCDOE]) to participate in the ACE Program. Both types of schools are able to receive Title I funding, so as long as they meet this criteria, they would be eligible to participate in the ACE Program. Changes/Problems:As stated in the previous report, an IRB application was submitted through the NYC Department of Education (NYCDOE) Human Subjects Research IRB office to get approval to conduct the study at public schools. This IRB application was not approved, and thus, the ACE Pilot study was only conducted at Catholic schools during the reporting period. Nonetheless, important insights were gained through the ACE Pilot study. These insights, in addition to feedback provided by contact persons at the NYCDOE, have helped inform the new IRB application that is currently under review. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Two Nutritional Sciences PhD students, two professional research staff, and five undergraduate research assistants have been hired to assist with the ACE study. All research staff (doctoral students, undergraduate research assistants, and research staff) have received training on how to collect 24-hour diet record data from adolescents, and how to conduct data entry in the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). They also received training on how to program surveys into Qualtrics, and how to collect survey data. Additionally, all research staff were trained on how to collect anthropometrics measurements using a Tanita scale to measure body fat percentage and weight, stadiometer for height, measuring tape to measure waist circumference, and veggie meter to measure dermal carotenoids. To train staff for program implementation and review the ACE curriculum amendments, we hosted several "teach backs" where research staff roleplayed implementing various components of the program. They received feedback on their instruction and discussed opportunities for improvement in facilitation. Finally, staff were involved in writing conference abstracts using data from this project. Two abstracts describing the feasibility of implementing the ACE program (1. virtually and 2. in-person) were accepted as poster presentations at the annual conference for the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior (Leak, T; Kluemper, E; Setiono, F; 2023). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were disseminated through the following presentations: 11/22Collaborations Between Nutrition and Food Science to Advance the Wellness of Youth in New York City (Guest Lecture). Science and Technology of Foods (FDSC 1101; Professor: Christopher Loss, PhD).Department of Food Science, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. 03/23 Lessons Learned from Engaging Communities in Nutrition Research.Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. 04/23Lessons Learned from New York City Youth in the Advanced Cooking Education (ACE) Feasibility Study.NYUNutrition & Food Studies Department. New York University. New York, NY. 08/23Inequities in Nutrition and Health: The Case for Intervening During Adolescence.National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will begin data collection October 2023 with two NYC Title I funded schools (data on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, professional development, and social and emotional learning competencies). Based on lessons learned from the pilot study, we project to recruit 24 students (7th and 8th grade) from the two NYC Title I funded schools (12 students x 2 schools). We will begin recruitment of students from 3 additional NYC Title I funded public schools in Nov. 2023, pending approval from the New York City Department of Education Human Subjects Research IRB. We will hire and train new staff to assist with ACE program implementation across NYC. In February 2024, we plan to start implementation of the 12-week ACE program at the 5-6 schools that have been recruited. By June 2024, we will complete post-intervention data collection at all of the recruited schools. We will analyze pre/post changes on the measures of interest (R.1). Additionally, we will conduct the focus groups at endpoint data collection (R.2), which will inform a qualitative manuscript.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have made progress on Research Objectives 1 and 2 (R.1 and R.2), and Extension Objective 1 (E.1). Since the last report, we completed the ACE Program in-person in May 2023 with a total of 22 students from two NYC Title I funded schools. Ongoing data analysis from this pilot program assesses data collected on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, interest in careers involving food and nutrition, and social and emotional learning competencies. Focus groups were conducted with these program participants. In terms of E.1, we have amended the ACE curriculum based on feedback and insights gained from the pilot study. Changes included amending the structure of the curriculum, by having culinary/wellness sessions and professional development sessions alternate weekly across the 12-week program, as was suggested in a focus group with ACE pilot study participants. Additionally, recipes have been adjusted to be better suited for the program (e.g., adjusting ingredient quantities, choosing accessible ingredients).
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Leak, T., Kluemper, E., & Setiono, F. (2023). Examining the Feasibility of the Online Advanced Cooking Education 4-H After School Club at Low-income, Urban Middle Schools. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 55(7, Supplement), 75. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.05.164
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Leak, T., Kluemper, E., & Setiono, F. (2023). The In-Person Advanced Cooking Education 4-H After-School Club at Low-Income, Urban Middle Schools: A Pilot Study. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 55(7), 113. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.05.239
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Progress 11/01/21 to 10/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The ACE Program will be conducted at Title I funded schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan for this reporting period. The schools may be Catholic schools or public schools (under the jurisdiction of New York City Department of Education). While we do not target specific demographics, the majority of the 7th and 8th grade students attending the participating schools are Black and mixed race. Changes/Problems:As stated in previous report, the ACE program implementation was moved to Spring 2023 due to COVID-19 as we had to complete the ACE feasibility study (recently completed in May 2022). We are currently on track with the amended timeline proposed in the previous reporting period. Regulations regarding research activities in schools introduced due to COVID-19 remain to present days. For example, for data collection, we have made some of the activities to be conducted virtually because the NYCDOE has requested that we minimize in-person interaction as much as possible. Thus, we are now conducting 24-hour diet record training online. We are meeting with enrolled participants 3 times virtually to train and go over/check their 24-hour diet record entries. Other changes have been made since then, which includes the following: While no major change to the eligibility criteria has been made, we have invited Catholic schools, in addition to public schools (schools under the jurisdiction of New York City Department of Education [NYCDOE]) to participate in the ACE Program. Both types of schools are able to receive Title I funding, so as long as they meet this criteria, they would be eligible to participate in the ACE Program. We made changes to the study design. Instead of conducting the ACE Program as an RCT, we have decided to use a self-controlled trial design, where all of the enrolled participants will act as their own control. We decided to make this change to ensure that all of the participating schools will be able to receive the full ACE Program without having to be waitlisted. In terms of the timeline for data collection, there are still 4 timepoints for data collection as originally proposed in the grant. These 4 timepoints are now done 1) 12 weeks before the start of the program (control period), 2) at baseline (right before the start of the ACE Program), 3) at endpoint (right after the end of the ACE Program), 4) at 6 months follow-up. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All research staff (doctoral students, undergraduate research assistants [URA], and New York City based research assistants) received training on how to collect 24-hour diet record data from adolescents and how to enter those data into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). They also received training on how to how to program surveys into Qualtrics and how to collect survey data using Qualtrics. Additionally, all staff were trained on how to collect anthropometrics measurements i.e., using a Tanita scale to measure body fat percentage and weight, stadiometer for height, waist circumference tape to measure waist circumference, and veggie meter to collect dermal carotenoids. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The ACE feasibility study was completed in May 2022 and the team is working on data analysis to measure pre-post changes in participants' diet quality, anthropometrics, perceived stress, cooking skills, self-efficacy, and attitudes, as well as social and emotional learning. The data has not been disseminated to the communities of interest, as of yet, but a presentation on the results are planned for the end of the year (November, December 2022). The following presentations about the ACE Program have been given. The title and locations are listed below: Decolonizing Futurities symposium. Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. (June 2022) Adolescent Nutrition Research to Promote Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change in New York City. Pediatric Grand Rounds. Weill Cornell Medicine. New York, NY. (March 2022) Nutrition and the Life Cycle (NS 1220). Addressing Sociodemographic Disparities in Childhood Obesity Prevalence. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. (Spring 2022) Obesity and Regulation of Body Weight (NS 3150). Intervening on Disparities in Obesity. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. (Spring 2022) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will hire and train new staff to work in the two boroughs (Manhattan and Brooklyn). We will recruit 7th and 8th grade students from the three middle schools in Manhattan and start data collection with enrolled participants.We are also currently submitting an IRB application through the New York City Department of Education Human Subjects Research IRB office to get approval to conduct the study at the three middle schools in Manhattan. In January 2023, we plan to start implementation of the 12-week ACE program at all of the schools that have been recruited. By May 2023, we estimate that we will complete endpoint data collection at all of the recruited schools. We will analyze pre-post changes on the measures of interest stated in R.1. Additionally, we will conduct the focus groups at endpoint data collection (R.2).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have made progress on Research Objective 1 (R.1) and Extension Objective 1 (E.1). Since the last report, we have recruited 5 middle schools to participate in the ACE Program (2 schools in Brooklyn, 3 schools in Manhattan). We have recruited a total of 24 students from the two schools in Brooklyn and we started data collection with those participants where we collected data on diet, weight status, perceived stress, nutrition knowledge, culinary skills, self-efficacy, and food attitudes, interest in careers involving food and nutrition, and social and emotional learning competencies. We will begin recruitment of students from the 3 schools in Manhattan in November of this year. In terms of E.1., we have amended the ACE curriculum based on the feedback from the ACE feasibility study which was completed in May 2022. Changes included amending certain professional development sessionsand recipes that received low satisfaction and introducing new lessons that were suggested by the participants from the ACE feasibility study.
Publications
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Progress 11/01/20 to 10/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The ACE feasibility study is being conducted at 3 Title Ischoolsin Brooklyn, NY (n=~60 total) and the majority of the 7thand 8thgrade students are Black (specifically from Caribbean countries [e.g., Jamaica]). For the ACE RCT, we will remain at the 3 middle schoolsin Brooklyn that participated in the ACE feasibility study, as well as 3 middle schools in Harlem where we conducted formative research (majority mixed race, large percentage Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Black), and we will recruit 3 new schools in the Bronx (we believe theywill be Dominican and Puerto Rican, based on census data). Changes/Problems:Due to COVID-19, we have encountered various obstacles to conducting the ACEfeasibilitystudy (originally planned for Spring 2020, now implemented 2021-2022 academic year) and ACE RCT (originally planned for Fall 2021, now Spring 2023).First, Cornell Universityprohibitedallhuman-subjectsresearchandresearch-relatedtravelbeginninginMarch2020,hinderingourabilitytoconductthe feasibility study. Adding to this, the New York City Department of Education prohibited in-person after-school activities,also making us unable to conduct the feasibility study as planned. These restrictions from Cornell University and the NewYorkCityDepartmentofEducationcontinuetothepresentday.For the ACE feasibility study, we are collecting baseline and end-point measures in person but the wellness and professional development session is being delivered via zoom. We will amend the ACE RCT IRB application Summer 2022 (based on lessons learned from the ACEfeasibilitystudy) and recruit for the ACE RCT Fall 2022, and start the ACE RCT January 2023. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? All research staff (including postdoctoral trainees, doctoral students, and undergraduate research assistants [URA]) receivedtraining on how to collect 24-hour diet record data from adolescents and how to enter those data into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). A postdoctoral trainee and one URA participated in a 2-day training hosted by the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities on NDSR. They then assisted the PI with trainee the rest of the team on how to use NDSR. Additionally, all research staff received training on how to program surveys into Qualtrics and how to collect survey data using Qualtrics.Regarding professional development, the URAs received instruction on grant writing and submitted grants to fund their stay in NYC to conduct baseline data collection at school number 2 (January 2022). To prepare for program implementation, we hosted several "teach backs" where research staff role played implementing various components of the program. They received feedback on their instruction and discussed opportunities for improvement in facilitation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Given that we are still conducting the ACE feasibility study and the ACE RCT has not yet started, we have not disseminated findings. We have presenting findings from formative phases (i.e., surveys and focus groups conducted with 8thgrade students, and interviews conducted with staff to gettheir feedback on the ACE program activities prior to developing the facilitator guide and student workbook). However, the following presentations about the ACE Program have been given. The title and locations are listed below: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill titled "Addressing the impact of racism and poverty on the nutritional status and health of adolescents in urban communities"onMarch 2021. Nutrition and the Life Cycle (NS 1220). Designing chronic disease prevention interventions for underserved andmarginalized adolescents. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. Spring 2021. Obesity and Regulation of Body Weight (NS 3150). Strategies to Address Disparities in Childhood Obesity. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. Spring 2021. Science and Technology of Foods (FDSC 1101). Understanding and Improving the Food Environments of Underserved and Marginalized Adolescents.Department of Food Science, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we willfinish conductingthe ACE feasibility study (by June 2022), as well as analyze and publish findings from the ACE feasibility study (by September 2022). We will amend ACE program activities, study protocols and procedures, data collection, entry, and management plan based on lessons learned from the ACE feasibility study for the ACE RCT.We will also hire and train new staff for the ACE RCT (Fall 2022).Additionally, we will recruit 3 new middle schools in the Bronx to participate in the ACE RCT, as well as recruit7thand 8thgrade students at 9 participating Title I schools(3-Manhattan [Harlem], 3-Bronx, 3-Brooklyn)for the ACE RCT.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have yet to begin the ACE RCT, so we have not accomplished any of the research and extension objectives listed above. We are conducting the ACE feasibility study during the 2021-2022 academic year with 7thand 8thgrade students at 3 Brooklyn schools that receive Title I funding(1 school Fall 2021 and 2 schools Spring 2022; n=~60 total expected). Given COVID, the wellness and professional development session is being delivered via zoom for the ACE feasibilitystudy.Baseline and end-point measures are being collected in person.
Publications
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