Diet Quality

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of NeoMayor, a mobile health (mHealth) intervention designed to improve cardiovascular health among older adults at elevated cardiovascular risk in Chile. NeoMayor is a smartphone-based application that provides personalized guidance on physical activity, diet, sleep, and mental well-being through a multidomain lifestyle approach. This multicenter randomized controlled trial will enroll community-dwelling older adults aged 55 to 75 years recruited from primary healthcare centers in urban and rural settings. Participants will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to either the NeoMayor intervention or a control group receiving standard health information and usual care. The intervention duration will be four months. The primary objective is to determine whether the NeoMayor intervention improves cardiovascular health as measured by the Life's Essential 8 Cardiovascular Health Index. Secondary objectives include evaluating changes in cognitive performance, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, quality of life and physical performance outcomes. The study will also assess feasibility and adherence to digital intervention.

This study aims to evaluate whether revised food voucher programs, combined with nutrition education sessions, can improve food security, dietary quality, nutrition knowledge, and nutritional outcomes among low-income households in the Philippines. Researchers will compare different monthly voucher amounts-Philippine Peso (PhP) 3,000, PhP 5,000, and PhP 8,000-with a no-voucher control group to determine which approach is most effective. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Do food vouchers improve household food security, reduce hunger, and improve dietary quality and nutrient intake? * Do larger voucher amounts lead to greater improvements in nutrition and health outcomes? * Does enhanced nutrition education improve nutrition knowledge and healthy eating practices? Participants will: * Receive either a monthly food voucher or no voucher, depending on study group assignment * Attend nutrition education and Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) sessions if assigned to a voucher group * Complete household interviews on food consumption, household expenditures, food security, and nutrition knowledge * Participate in dietary assessments and anthropometric measurements for women and children under 5 years of age

Ambient air temperatures in Fiji are increasing due to climate change. Solutions are needed to build heat resilience in communities and adapt. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings may passively reduce indoor temperatures and energy use to protect home occupants from extreme heat. Occupants living in poor housing conditions in Fiji are susceptible to increased heat exposure. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous physical, mental and social health conditions. The worst adverse health effects are experienced in communities that are least able to adapt to heat exposure. By reducing indoor temperatures, cool roof use can promote physical, mental and social wellbeing in household occupants. The long-term research goal of the investigators is to identify viable passive housing adaptation technologies with proven health benefits to reduce the burden of heat stress in communities affected by heat in Fiji. To meet this goal, the investigators will conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial to establish the effects of cool roof use on health, indoor environment and economic outcomes in Tavua, Fiji.

The purpose of this study is to find out whether a program called "Healthy Children, Healthy Communities" can help young children in rural areas eat healthier and improve their health. The study focuses on children ages 3 to 5 who attend family childcare homes in rural communities. The main goal is to see if the program can: Help children eat healthier foods, like more fruits and vegetables. Support childcare providers in using positive mealtime practices that encourage healthy eating. The study will involve about 120 licensed family childcare providers in rural areas who participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), along with about 240 children they care for. Childcare providers will be randomly placed into one of two groups: EAT Family Style Group (Intervention Group): Complete 7 online training modules over 16 weeks about healthy mealtime practices. Join 7 individual coaching sessions on Zoom. Record short videos of their mealtimes to get personalized feedback from a coach. Work with a coach to set goals and make plans to improve mealtimes. Receive printed materials and conversation cards to use during meals. Some providers may join Zoom interviews to share their experiences. Better Kid Care Group (Comparison Group): Complete 10 online modules about general childcare topics like child development, oral health, play, and managing a childcare home. For both groups, the research team will: Ask providers to fill out online surveys about how mealtimes work in their childcare homes. Visit the childcare homes to observe and record children's mealtimes on two days at each data collection point. Measure the height and weight of participating children. Use a painless skin scanner (Veggie Meter) to check how many fruits and vegetables children have been eating. Ask providers to complete surveys about the children's eating habits. The study focuses on rural, low-income communities, where children are at higher risk of having poor diets and obesity compared to children in urban areas. Information will be collected at the start of the study, after 16 weeks, and again after 24 weeks to see if there are lasting changes.

This study looks at whether using secure digital systems to share information between pediatric health care providers (during regular well-child visits) and social care providers (during regular visits with WIC nutritionists) can help mothers receive consistent guidance on responsive parenting to support healthy child growth and development. Responsive parenting means learning how to respond to a baby's needs in ways that support healthy eating, sleep, activity, and emotion regulation habits. The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Does using secure digital systems to share information between pediatric health care providers and social care providers help mothers receive consistent guidance on responsive parenting to support healthy growth from birth to 24 months? 2. Does using secure digital systems to share information between pediatric health care providers and social care providers help mothers receive consistent guidance on responsive parenting, improve responsive parenting practices and child diet quality? The investigators will compare the group that receives secure digital systems for sharing information on responsive parenting to a group that receives standard care (does not receive this) to see if secure digital systems for sharing information on responsive parenting work to support healthy child growth and development. The goal is to see if this approach can improve early health behaviors and reduce health disparities for families in rural, low-income communities.

Ambient air temperatures in Mexico have broken record highs in 2024. Solutions are needed to build heat resilience in communities and adapt to increasing heat from climate change. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings may passively reduce indoor temperatures and energy use to protect home occupants from extreme heat. Occupants living in poor housing conditions in the northern zone of Mexico are susceptible to increased heat exposure. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous physical, mental and social health conditions. The worst adverse health effects are experienced in communities that are least able to adapt to heat exposure. By reducing indoor temperatures, cool roof use can promote physical, mental and social wellbeing in household occupants. The long-term research goal of the investigators is to identify viable passive housing adaptation technologies with proven health benefits to reduce the burden of heat stress in communities affected by heat in Mexico. To meet this goal, the investigators will conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial to establish the effects of cool roof use on health, indoor environment and economic outcomes in Colima, Mexico.

Ambient air temperatures in Asian, Latin American, African, and Pacific climate hotspots have broken record highs in 2024, driven by man-made climate change. Solutions are needed to reduce heat exposure in communities. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings passively reduce indoor temperatures and energy use to protect home occupants from extreme heat. Occupants living in poor housing conditions globally - for example in informal settlements, slums, and low-socioeconomic households - are especially vulnerable to increased indoor heat exposure. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous physical, mental and social health conditions. The worst adverse health effects are being experienced in communities least able to adapt to heat exposure. By reducing indoor temperatures, cool roof use can promote physical, mental and social wellbeing in occupants. The long-term research goal is to identify viable passive housing adaptation technologies with proven health and environmental benefits to reduce the burden of heat stress in communities affected by heat globally. To meet this goal, the investigators will conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial to establish the effects of cool roof use on health, indoor environment and economic outcomes in five urban climate hotspots: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Colima, Mexico; Ahmedabad, India; Niue; and Tavua, Fiji.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an Internet-based behavioral intervention can increase physical activity and improve diet quality among Latina adults. The main question aims to answer is whether participants in the Internet-based behavioral intervention group increase their physical activity levels, increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables, and decrease their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages over 12 weeks. Researchers will compare the Internet-based physical activity and healthy eating intervention to a wait-list control group (participants who do not receive any intervention until after completing the study) to see if the Internet-based behavioral intervention works to improve physical activity and diet quality. Participants who receive the Internet-based behavioral intervention receive access to the online intervention for 12 weeks, and complete assessments at baseline and week-12. Participants in the wait-list control complete the same assessments at baseline and week 12, then receive access to the online intervention for 12 weeks.