Kids Cafe: Impact of a national feeding program on children's dietary behaviors

描述(由申请人提供)：肥胖是美国34%的成年人和17%的年轻人的严重公共健康问题，增加了患某些形式癌症的风险。收入有限的人的肥胖率和癌症发病率高于收入较高的人。事实上，在美国所有与癌症相关的死亡中，肥胖症占14-20%。因为青少年肥胖倾向于在一生中持续下去，所以应该从童年开始努力保持能量平衡。年轻人中肥胖率的增加可能会增加未来的癌症发病率。仅是健康的饮食习惯，加上强调植物性食物(水果、蔬菜、全谷物和豆类)并保持健康体重的整体饮食模式，就可以将癌症死亡率降低高达30%。因此，为了降低肥胖和癌症发病率，需要针对儿童及其饮食环境的创新干预策略？儿童卡菲计划(KCP)是一项为低收入儿童提供零食和营养教育的全国性计划，但其效果尚未得到评估。这款R03应用程序将评估KCP对儿童饮食行为和营养知识的影响。这部分研究将在研究的第一阶段进行。在第二阶段，将开展对KCP的家庭干预。将进行一项小型试点研究，以提供有关可行性、过程和干预结果的信息，包括饮食行为的变化，以及为后续R01应用的样本量计算提供信息的中介变量。这项研究将是对KCP改善饮食行为以预防肥胖和降低癌症风险的潜在知识的独特贡献。这些发现将导致针对这一重要渠道的研究，通过促进健康的干预措施接触到低收入家庭。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obesity, a serious public health problem for 34% of adults and 17% of youth in the United States, increases risk for some forms of cancer. Obesity and cancer rates are higher among individuals with limited income than those with higher incomes. In fact, obesity contributes to 14-20% of all cancer-related mortality in the US. Because youth obesity tends to continue throughout life, efforts to maintain energy balance should begin in childhood. The increasing prevalence of obesity in youth may increase future incidence of cancer. Healthy eating habits alone, with an overall dietary pattern that emphasizes plant foods (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and beans) and maintains healthy weight, could reduce cancer mortality by as much as 30%. Thus, to reduce obesity and cancer rates, innovative intervention strategies are needed that target children and their dietary environments? Kids Cafi Program (KCP) is a national program that provides snacks and nutrition education for low-income children, but its effectiveness has not been evaluated. This R03 application will assess the impact of the KCP on children's dietary behaviors and nutrition knowledge. This part of the research will be carried out in Phase I of the study. In Phase II, the family intervention for KCP will be developed. A small pilot study will be conducted to provide information on feasibility, process and intervention outcomes, including changes in dietary behavior, and mediating variables to inform sample size calculations for a subsequent R01 application. This study will be a unique contribution to the body of knowledge regarding the potential for the KCP to improve dietary behaviors to prevent obesity and reduce cancer risk. Findings will lead to studies targeting this important channel to reach low-income families with health-promoting interventions.