Progress 01/15/24 to 01/14/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Research: Underserved children in 3rd to 5th grade and a parent/caregiver living in the city of Long Beach. Extension: Family members of research participants or community members ineligible to be research participants. Education: Undergraduate and graduate students at California State University Long Beach who meet the following criteria: 1) declared major in nutrition, health science, kinesiology or other health related major; 2) minimum 3.0 GPA 3) junior or senior standing for undergraduates, enrolled in a Master's degree program for graduate students; and 4) preference given to students from traditionally underrepresented groups such as first-generation educated (parents/legal guardians cannot hold a bachelor's degree from a U.S. University or College), students with financial need, members of racial/ethnic minority groups, and students with disabilities. Changes/Problems: Due to alate award notice, the project start was delayed. This delay resulted in a revised participant recruitment timeline. Participant cohorts have been smaller than expected. We anticipated larger groups of 6 however, due to other obligations/time conflicts cohorts have included an average of 3 families. This change has affected our ability to stay on track to reach our research participant numbers in order to meet our goal by the end of the grant. We anticipate the need for a no cost extension to allow us to reach 144 research participants. There is also a growing concern of changes that may affect our ability to reach underserved populations. There is also a concern of fear in the community in participating in programs, which has increased barriers to recruitment. We have added additoinal recruitment activities and will prioritize outreach in the next grant period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cohort 1 students continued to receive professional development through the mentored process of developing a research abstract and poster. Students presented their poster at the CSULB Week of Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Symposium. Cohort 2 students were provided with an orientation and onboarding, in addition to an intensive one-week training to further prepare them to engage in experiential learning through the implementation of various aspects of the research intervention. Through their participation, students have gained an understanding of the research process, specifically, community-based participatory research as it relates to nutrition and chronic disease prevention, responsible and ethical conduct of research, and hands-on research experience with guidance from the PI and Co-I. Additionally, students receive professional development workshops with support in the following areas: preparing and planning for graduate school, resume and CV, goal-setting, and professional etiquette, and leadership and team work. Students also engage in structured mentorship meetings with the Co-I every 2 months, and ongoing unstructured mentorship from the PI, Co-I and Research Coordinator that provide them additional support for their academic, professional, and personal goals.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Goal 1: Applications for the third and last cohort of six students will open mid-March. Applications are due April 10th. Interviews and final selections will be complete by April 30th. Students will begin their training and experiential learning experience on June 2, 2025. Training and mentorship will be provided as it has been done with the first two cohorts. Goal 2: N/A Goal 3: Ongoing recruitment, intervention sessions, and data collection will take place with research participants. Intervention sessions have been scheduled through June 30th, 2025. We are currently working on a schedule for July - December 2025. We anticipate the need for a no cost extension given the late start of the project. Goal 4: Community participants will continue to be invited to attend interventions sessions in order to benefit from the information provided. Goal 5: Families who participate in the intervention will continue to receive a flyer that details information on all the food pantries available in the City of Long Beach.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: During the reporting period, a second cohort of 4 undergraduate and 2 graduate students (OBJ. 1) were recruited, selected and trained. Students received training in community-engaged research, health promotion, intervention implementation, and evaluation (OBJ. 2); in addition to ongoing mentoring, career guidance, and professional development workshops (OBJ. 3). Students have received hands on experiential learning by engaging in community-based research, nutrition and gardening health promotion, and data collection and evaluation (OBJ. 4). The second cohort of students will continue to receive training, mentorship, and hands-on experiential learning through the end of their fellowship in June 2025. In total, 7 undergraduate and 5 graduate students have been recruited and trained since the inception of the grant. Goal 2: Goal was met during the last project period. We consulted and received guidance from the Community Advisory Board on intervention implementation (OBJ. 5). Feedback and guidance were incorporated into final versions of the curriculum. Thirteen community members were engaged in a focus group to inform the design and implementation of the intervention (OBJ. 6). Participants consisted of adults and children from the priority population. Feedback was incorporated into the intervention design. Goal 3: Implementation phase of the intervention started in September 2023. During this project period, 15 cohorts of participants received the intervention resulting in reaching forty-four (44) underserved children in grades 3 - 5 and their parents/caregivers (OBJ. 7). An average of 3 families participate per cohort. Cumulatively, 54 children in grades 3 - 5 and their parents/caregivers were reached by the intervention. Knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to healthy eating are assessed via pre-, post-, and 3-month follow up surveys (OBJ. 8). Preliminary results from pre- and post-survey data indicate improvement in healthy eating knowledge scores among children from pre (M=4.85, SD=1.5) to post (M=5.67, SD=1.7), t(53) = 3.74, p = <.001. Similar results were found among adults from pre (M=5.74, SD=1.3) to post (M=6.35, SD=1.25), t(43) = 3.55. p = <.001. Nutrition label literacy skills were measured with four items asking participants to respond to questions given a nutrition label. Scores improved among children from pre (M=1.96, SD=1.45) to post (M=2.93, SD=1.01), t(53) = 5.56, p =<.001. Increased positive perceptions and attitudes of fruits and vegetables were observed among children at post (M=3.39, SD=.46), compared to pre (M=3.16, SD=.65), t(53) = 2.61, p =.012. For example, child participants increased in agreement with the statements, "I try to eat lots of vegetables" and "Eating fruits and vegetables everyday keeps me healthy." Similarly, positive changes in children's perception in their ability to do certain things such as washing and preparing fruits and vegetables, saying no to unhealthy foods from friends, and reading a food label was observed from pre (M=3.04, SD=.68) to post (M=3.32, SD=.53), t(53) = 3.25, p =.002. Preliminary data on eating patterns (OBJ. 9) among children did not result in significant changes in fruit, vegetable, breakfast, and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption from pre-to-post. However, seperateanalysisdemonstrated a significant increase in daily servings of green vegetables from pre-to-post, t(51) = 2.02, p=.049, for children. Similar trends were found among adult participants. Parental awareness and knowledge related to the importance of healthy eating patterns for children (OBJ. 10) was assessed with the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire comprised of 3 subscales (food responsiveness, slowness of eating, and satiety responsiveness), which correspond to three styles of eating behavior studies have found to be repeatedly associated with higher weight in children. Preliminary results with our small sample indicate no significant changes. Assessment of parental influence on children's eating patterns (OBJ. 11) was assessed using the Parenting strategies for Eating and Activities Scale (PEAS) comprised of 5 subscales (monitoring, limit-setting, discipline, permission, and concern). Significant changes were observed from pre-to-post for permission(p=<.05) and monitoring (p=<.01), suggesting parents increased monitoring of fruit and vegetable consumption with their children, and their children were more likely to ask for permission to consume snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages post intervention. Additionally, parenting practices related to vegetables were assessed using 31-items divided into 6 subscales (effective responsiveness, effective structure, effective non-directive control, ineffective responsiveness, ineffective structure, ad ineffective control). Preliminary results do not demonstrate significant statistical changes from pre-to-post. Its possible participants need more time to incorporate changes, therefore, changes from pre-to-3 month follow up will be assessed. Data collection with families is ongoing as intervention sessions are scheduled. Goal 4: One hundred (100) non-research participants engaged in the Harvesting Healthy Habits intervention (obj. 12) during this reporting period. Guests ofresearch participants includesiblings, cousins, and a second parent/caregivers. To date, 126 community participants were reached. Goal 5: Families who participate in the intervention are provided with a flyer that details information on all the food pantries available in the City of Long Beach. This allows families to receive support as needed with different options based on location and time. Families are also informedabout the locations in the city that offer free enrollment assistance for SNAP and WIC. During the reporting period 44 families were provided with the information on food pantries and locations that provide enrollment assistance to federally funded nutrition programs.
Publications
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Progress 01/15/23 to 01/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Research: Underserved children in 3rd to 5th grade and a parent/caregiver living in the city of Long Beach. Extension: Family members of research participants or community members ineligible to be research participants. Education: Undergraduate and graduate students at California State University Long Beach who meet the following criteria: 1) declared major in nutrition, health science, kinesiology or other health related major; 2) minimum 3.0 GPA 3) junior or senior standing for undergraduates, enrolled in a Master's degree program for graduate students; and 4) preference given to students from traditionally underrepresented groups such as first-generation educated (parents/legal guardians cannot hold a bachelor's degree from a U.S. University or College), students with financial need, members of racial/ethnic minority groups, and students with disabilities. Changes/Problems:The late award notice, pushed back our initial recruitment timeline for students and research participants. While extensive efforts were made to get the project up and running promptly after award notice, the research timeline had to be revised to account for time lost. The subaward with Adventures to Dreams Enrichment community garden had to be terminated after multiple attempts to resolve issues surrounding availability of garden space for intervention activities and spending of grant funding. The termination has not impacted the project's ability to move the intervention activities forward. We are currently communicating with other community gardens in the area for potential collaboration and have taken on garden responsibilities to prevent delays.. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students were provided with an orientation and onboarding, in addition to an intensive one-week training to further prepare them to engage in experiential learning through the implementation of various aspects of the research intervention. Through their participation, students have gained an understanding of the research process, specifically, community-based participatory research as it relates to nutrition and chronic disease prevention, responsible and ethical conduct of research, and hands-on research experience with guidance from the PI and Co-I. Students also engage in structured mentorship meetings with the Co-I every 3 months, and ongoing unstructured mentorship from the PI, Co-I and Research Coordinator. Additionally, mentorship from PI and Co-I and professional development workshops provided students with support in the following areas: preparing and planning for graduate school, resume and CV, goal-setting, and professional etiquette, and leadership and team work. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: We are currently recruiting for the second cohort of students. Applications are due April 10th. Interviews and final selections will be complete by April 30th. Students will begin their training and experiential learning experience on June 3rd, 2024. Training and mentorship will be provided as it has been done with the first cohort. Goal 2:Completed year 1. Goal 3: Ongoing recruitment, intervention sessions, and data collection will take place with research participants. Intervention sessions have been scheduled through June 30th, 2024. We are currently working on a schedule for July - December 2024. Goal 4: Community participants will continue to be invited to attend interventions sessions in order to benefit from the information provided. Goal 5: Families who participate in the intervention will continue to receive a flyer that details information on all the food pantries available in the City of Long Beach.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: The first cohort of 3 undergraduate and 3 graduate students (Obj. 1) were recruited, selected and trained. Students received training in community-engaged research, health promotion, intervention implementation, and evaluation (obj. 2); in addition to ongoing mentoring, career guidance, and professional development workshops (obj. 3). Students have received hands on experiential learning by engaging in community-based research, nutrition and gardening health promotion, and data collection and evaluation (obj. 4). Students will continue to receive training, mentorship, and hands-on experiential learning through the end of their fellowship in June 2024. Goal 2: We consulted and received guidance from the Community Advisory Board on intervention implementation (obj. 5). Feedback and guidance were incorporated into final versions of the curriculum. Thirteen community members were engaged in a focus group to inform the design and implementation of the intervention (obj. 6). Participants consisted of adults and children from the priority population. Feedback was incorporated into the intervention design. Goal 3: Implementation phase of the intervention began in September 2023. Two concurrent cohorts of participants took place in order to catch up to the timeline. Ten (10) underserved children in grades 3 - 5 and their parents/caregivers were reached in the first year (obj. 7). Improvements in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and eating patterns (obj. 8 - 11) are still in progress and will be analyzed as sample size increases. Data collection with families is ongoing as intervention sessions are scheduled. Goal 4: Ten non-research participants have engaged in the Harvesting Healthy Habits intervention. Guests from research participants includes siblings of the child and adult spouse. Goal 5: Families who participate in the intervention are provided with a flyer that details information on all the food pantries available in the City of Long Beach. This allows families to receive support as needed with different options based on location and time. Families are also told about the locations in the city that offer free enrollment assistance for SNAP and WIC.
Publications
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