Children’s diets affect their lifelong health trajectories, but healthy eating habits can be difficult to influence, especially for resource-constrained families. Factor Health, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area, sought to find out if brief, convenient access to free produce and unconstrained grocery gift cards given to caregivers could result in improvements in children’s diets. The results show promising improvements in children’s diets with a net increase in fruits and vegetables eaten, with positive implications for success in longer-term programs.
Program and Results
As reported in: Austin American Statesman | El Mundo
- Results of a randomized clinical trial of 68 school-aged children (May 27th, 2022, JAMA Network Open)
- Program described in Dell Med press release, with input from our partner the Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area
Trial Results Key Features:
- Rapidity of results (4 weeks) relative to other programming
- We provided open-ended grocery cards – showing that you don’t have to constrain people to healthy choices for them to make healthy choices.
- We provided caregivers (primarily mothers) with choices so it was person-centered in the same way we advocate that medicine be patient-centered.
FUEL: Food, Fun, Fresh, Family Program for Healthy Eating and Growth for Elementary-age Children.
Factor Health is currently building on these early trial results for a youth health program in Austin with aim to make an even bigger health impact. The program, launched in fall 2023, addresses youth health trajectories at puberty and is a full-scale trial program in collaboration once again with the Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area. The program includes produce box and grocery card support with semester-long nutritional education & physical activity for students. It will also include clinical coordination with a local FQHC and planned assessment of the business case for payers.
Contact us if you are interested in scaling a youth health program supporting children’s healthy diets in a community that you serve.
