Simply Dinner: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Home Meal Delivery

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern.
• Preschoolers' dietary habits are established early and influence long-term health.
• Interventions targeting dietary quality in early childhood are crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a bundled intervention's impact on preschoolers' body mass index z-score (BMIz), dietary quality, and family meal frequency.
• The intervention combined home meal delivery with cooking/serving resources.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of expanding meal delivery services to young children.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 299 families with preschoolers (mean age 4.4 years).
• Participants were assigned to a control group or an intervention group receiving meal delivery and resources for 12 weeks.
• Outcomes included child dietary quality, family meal frequency, and child BMIz.

Main Results:

• The intervention significantly increased red and orange vegetable intake in the overall sample and the commercial meal delivery cohort.
• Fruit and fruit juice intake increased in the Meals on Wheels (MOW) cohort.
• No significant changes were observed in family meal frequency or child BMIz.

Conclusions:

• Home meal delivery combined with resources can improve preschool-aged children's dietary quality in the short term.
• This intervention shows promise for improving child nutrition, particularly through programs like Meals on Wheels.
• Reducing meal preparation burden does not increase family meal frequency if it is already high.