Trial reportBMC public health2023
A pilot randomized controlled trial comparing nutritious meal kits and no-prep meals to improve food security and diet quality among food pantry clients.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05593510 (Identifying Food Pantry Client and Staff Preferences for Nutritious no Prep Ready-to-eat Meals Versus Ingredient Bundles as an Effort to Increase Food Security, Improve Nutrition, and Promote Well-being), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Identifying Food Pantry Client and Staff Preferences for Nutritious no Prep Ready-to-eat Meals Versus Ingredient Bundles as an Effort to Increase Food Security, Improve Nutrition, and Promote Well-being
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Preventing Weight Regain After Glucagon-Like Peptide‑1 Therapy Discontinuation: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- Exploring Eating Patterns and Cooking Habits Among Emerging Adult College Students to Inform a Pilot Meal Kit Program.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Article
- Excessive Sodium Intake in Commercial Diet Catering Meal Plans in Poland: Implications for Diet Quality and Chronic Disease Risk.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Exploring sociodemographic and nutrition-related correlates of meal-kit use across five countries: findings from the International Food Policy Study.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Caregiver and Pediatrician Perspectives on a Meal Kit Delivery Program for Children With Food Insecurity and Obesity: A Qualitative Analysis.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2025Article
- Article
- What do you want to eat? Cuisine and nutrition intervention preferences among people using a large food pantry in Texas.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Food Insecurity and Dietary Quality in African American Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancers: An Exploratory Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFood pantry clients have high rates of food insecurity and greater risk for and prevalence of diet-related diseases. Many clients face time, resource, and physical constraints that limit their ability to prepare healthy meals using foods typically provided by pantries. We compared two novel approaches to alleviate those barriers and encourage healthier eating: meal kits, which bundle ingredients with a recipe on how to prepare a healthy meal, and nutritious no-prep meals, which can be eaten after thawing or microwaving.
methodsParticipants were adult pantry clients from a large food pantry in the Southern sector of Dallas, Texas. We conducted a repeated measures between-subjects study with 70 clients randomized to receive 14-days of meal kits (n = 35) or no-prep meals (n = 35). Participants completed questionnaires at baseline and two-week follow-up on demographics, hedonic liking of study meals, perceived dietary quality, and food security. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to examine group and time effects, and group by time interactions. We also describe feasibility and satisfaction outcomes to inform future implementation.
resultsSixty-six participants completed the study (94%). Participants were predominantly Hispanic or Latino(a) (63%) and African American or Black (31%) women (90%). There was a significant interaction on hedonic liking of study meals (ηp²=0.16, F(1,64) = 11.78, p < .001), such that participants that received meal kits had greater improvements in hedonic liking over time than participants in the no-prep group. We observed significant improvements in perceived dietary quality (ηp²=0.36, F(1,64) = 36.38, p < .001) and food security (ηp²=0.36, F(1,64) = 36.38, p < .001) across both groups over time, but no between group differences or significant interactions indicating one intervention was more effective than the other. Program satisfaction was high across both groups, but higher among the meal kit group (ηp²=0.09, F(1,64) = 6.28, p = .015).
conclusionsResults suggest nutritious meal kits and no-prep meals may be desirable nutrition intervention strategies for pantry clients and have potential to increase food security and perceived dietary quality in the short-term. Our findings are limited by a small sample and short follow-up. Future studies should continue to test both interventions, and include longer follow-up, objective measures of dietary quality, and relevant clinical outcomes.
trial registrationThis trial was registered on 25/10/2022 on ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT05593510.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.