Evaluating Effectiveness of Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Military

Description

"The goal of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to the vegetables served to military personnel on a large military base can increase vegetable intake as compared to typical vegetable offerings without spices and herbs. A two-phase intervention will be conducted on base at Naval Station Activity Bethesda (NSAB) to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to vegetable dishes can increase vegetable intake amongst military service members. Phase I will involve extensive engagement with key stakeholders involved in current vegetable consumption at NSAB, including military service members, staff dietitians, the health promotion specialist on base, barracks managers, military culinary specialist, unit leaders, morale welfare and recreations/single sailor program leaders, base senior enlisted leaders, and the base commander. Questionnaires will be administered evaluating current barriers to vegetable intake at NSAB, familiarity with and liking of a variety of spices and herbs, and sensory testing of several vegetables with and without spices and herbs. The recipes in the vegetable sensory testing comparisons will be identical other than spices and herbs content. Phase II will involve will focus upon the direct measurement of vegetable intake (primary outcome) and vegetable linking (secondary outcome) among active-duty service members with spices and herbs and without spices and herbs. The vegetables will be provided as part of an entire meal on a "grab and go" plate. The other foods in the meal (proteins, starches, etc.) accompanying the vegetables will be kept consistently paired to vegetable recipes to minimize confounding. Vegetable intake will be assessed via cell phone pictures and liking will be assessed by a single 5-point Likert scale question."

Conditions

Dietary Intake

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

"The goal of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to the vegetables served to military personnel on a large military base can increase vegetable intake as compared to typical vegetable offerings without spices and herbs. A two-phase intervention will be conducted on base at Naval Station Activity Bethesda (NSAB) to evaluate whether the addition of spices and herbs to vegetable dishes can increase vegetable intake amongst military service members. Phase I will involve extensive engagement with key stakeholders involved in current vegetable consumption at NSAB, including military service members, staff dietitians, the health promotion specialist on base, barracks managers, military culinary specialist, unit leaders, morale welfare and recreations/single sailor program leaders, base senior enlisted leaders, and the base commander. Questionnaires will be administered evaluating current barriers to vegetable intake at NSAB, familiarity with and liking of a variety of spices and herbs, and sensory testing of several vegetables with and without spices and herbs. The recipes in the vegetable sensory testing comparisons will be identical other than spices and herbs content. Phase II will involve will focus upon the direct measurement of vegetable intake (primary outcome) and vegetable linking (secondary outcome) among active-duty service members with spices and herbs and without spices and herbs. The vegetables will be provided as part of an entire meal on a "grab and go" plate. The other foods in the meal (proteins, starches, etc.) accompanying the vegetables will be kept consistently paired to vegetable recipes to minimize confounding. Vegetable intake will be assessed via cell phone pictures and liking will be assessed by a single 5-point Likert scale question."

Evaluating Effectiveness of Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Military

Evaluating Effectiveness of Spices and Herbs to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Military

Condition
Dietary Intake
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Bethesda

Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20814

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Junior Service Member (E1-E4 or O1-O3)
  • * Read and write English
  • * Anyone under 18 years of age
  • * Anyone not in the U.S. military

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,

Chris D'Adamo, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

2024-12-31