Implementation and Effectiveness Outcomes of a Pilot Comparative Effectiveness Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating a Food Is Medicine Program Among At-Risk Pediatric Populations.
Introduction: Food Is Medicine (FIM) programs have demonstrated effectiveness in improving diet quality and food insecurity. There remains a lack of evidence of their impacts in pediatric populations. This pilot comparative effectiveness randomized control trial assessed two FIM strategies on implem...
| Publicado en: | Childhood Obesity Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 29 - 47 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Jan2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=190954153&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 190954153 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 21532168 BCLB jtl: Childhood Obesity issn: 21532168 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2026 vid: 22 iid: 1 pid: 1365 pub: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. place: New Rochelle, New York artinfo: ui: 190954153 190954153 190954153 10.1177/21532176251403284 190954153 ppf: 29 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: Implementation and Effectiveness Outcomes of a Pilot Comparative Effectiveness Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating a Food Is Medicine Program Among At-Risk Pediatric Populations. aug: au: Mathur, Mallika Yeragi, Prajakta Prabhu, Vinay Marshall, Allison Chow, Joanne Gaminian, Azar Pomeroy, Mike Markham, Christine Chuang, Ru-Jye Sharma, Shreela V. affil: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Center for Health Equity, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. sug: subj: Program Evaluation Food Security Malnutrition Risk Factors Risk Assessment Pediatric Care Food Quality Outcome Assessment Program Implementation Medicaid Body Mass Index Human Funding Source Randomized Controlled Trials Random Assignment Comparative Studies Pilot Studies Male Female Child, Preschool Child Nutrition Education Texas Purposive Sample Electronic Health Records Descriptive Statistics T-Tests Fisher's Exact Test Chi Square Test Data Analysis Software Clinical Assessment Tools Questionnaires Hospitals, Pediatric Glycated Hemoglobin Blood Lipids Blood Confidence Intervals Aspartate Aminotransferase Blood Child, Preschool: 2-5 years Child: 6-12 years Male Female ab: Introduction: Food Is Medicine (FIM) programs have demonstrated effectiveness in improving diet quality and food insecurity. There remains a lack of evidence of their impacts in pediatric populations. This pilot comparative effectiveness randomized control trial assessed two FIM strategies on implementation and health outcomes in Medicaid-eligible children aged 5–12 years with a BMI ≥85th percentile. Methods: Participants (n = 150) were enrolled for a 32-week intervention through recruitment at two urban pediatric primary care clinics in Houston, TX. Participants were randomized 1:1:1 into three arms: (1) biweekly $25 produce vouchers + nutrition education, (2) biweekly produce home delivery + nutrition education, or (3) wait-listed control (n = 50 per arm). Implementation outcomes included retention, redemption, dosage, reach, fidelity, and acceptability. Child outcome measures included diet, food security, BMI z-scores, hemoglobin A1c, liver panels, and lipid panels. Multilevel mixed-effects regression models were used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention on outcomes. Results: On average, voucher participants redeemed $353 out of $400 (88%) of their funds, and 100% of the home delivery group received ∼18 lb (52 servings) of produce per week. Parents found the program helpful in reducing grocery costs (voucher: 95%, delivery: 76%). Compared to the control group, voucher group participants had a significant decrease in aspartate aminotransferase (−5.50, 95% confidence interval: −9.43, −1.57, p = 0.006) from baseline to post-intervention. Conclusions: This pilot study found FIM programs are both feasible and well accepted among at-risk populations, with slightly higher acceptability of the voucher model. More adequately powered studies with a stringent design are needed to test their effectiveness. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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