A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families

To address the urban-rural and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity, this study evaluated a childcare-based mindful eating intervention on improving eating behavior and home eating environment and reducing obesity and food insecurity among economically marginalized families in rural areas....

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Main Authors: Jiying Ling, Nagwan Zahry, Sisi Chen, Yingcen Xie, Hannah Lalonde, Lorraine B. Robbins, Jean M. Kerver
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Critical Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2505110
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author Jiying Ling
Nagwan Zahry
Sisi Chen
Yingcen Xie
Hannah Lalonde
Lorraine B. Robbins
Jean M. Kerver
author_facet Jiying Ling
Nagwan Zahry
Sisi Chen
Yingcen Xie
Hannah Lalonde
Lorraine B. Robbins
Jean M. Kerver
author_sort Jiying Ling
collection DOAJ
description To address the urban-rural and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity, this study evaluated a childcare-based mindful eating intervention on improving eating behavior and home eating environment and reducing obesity and food insecurity among economically marginalized families in rural areas. A one-group pragmatic trial with a pretest-posttest design was conducted across 26 childcare classes in rural Midwestern U.S. Trained childcare teachers delivered a 14-week mindful eating intervention to preschoolers, consisting of one 20-minute session per week. Mixed-effects models were used to adjust for childcare center and classroom random effects. Two hundred preschoolers (mean age = 47.69 months, 50% female, 7.5% Hispanic) and 192 caregivers (mean age = 32.19 years, 96.4% female, 4.7% Hispanic) participated. One third caregivers were single, and 43.2% were unemployed. Household food insecurity rate decreased from 51% to 36% (p < .001). Home eating environment improved significantly. Preschoolers’ baseline weight status significantly modified the effects on BMI z-score (p = .044). Preschoolers who had overweight or obesity at baseline experienced an average decrease of 0.20 in their BMI z-score. Results support the promising effects of the intervention on improving home eating environment and reducing childhood obesity and food insecurity.
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spelling doaj-art-06f891ecbdff4d0b96cbf96a4144ff632025-08-20T02:31:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCritical Public Health0958-15961469-36822025-12-0135110.1080/09581596.2025.2505110A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized familiesJiying Ling0Nagwan Zahry1Sisi Chen2Yingcen Xie3Hannah Lalonde4Lorraine B. Robbins5Jean M. Kerver6College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USADepartment of Communication, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN, USADepartment of Exercise Science, Mercer University, Macon, GA, USACollege of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USACollege of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USACollege of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USADepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USATo address the urban-rural and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity, this study evaluated a childcare-based mindful eating intervention on improving eating behavior and home eating environment and reducing obesity and food insecurity among economically marginalized families in rural areas. A one-group pragmatic trial with a pretest-posttest design was conducted across 26 childcare classes in rural Midwestern U.S. Trained childcare teachers delivered a 14-week mindful eating intervention to preschoolers, consisting of one 20-minute session per week. Mixed-effects models were used to adjust for childcare center and classroom random effects. Two hundred preschoolers (mean age = 47.69 months, 50% female, 7.5% Hispanic) and 192 caregivers (mean age = 32.19 years, 96.4% female, 4.7% Hispanic) participated. One third caregivers were single, and 43.2% were unemployed. Household food insecurity rate decreased from 51% to 36% (p < .001). Home eating environment improved significantly. Preschoolers’ baseline weight status significantly modified the effects on BMI z-score (p = .044). Preschoolers who had overweight or obesity at baseline experienced an average decrease of 0.20 in their BMI z-score. Results support the promising effects of the intervention on improving home eating environment and reducing childhood obesity and food insecurity.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2505110Mindful eatingfood insecurityparentingchildrenrural
spellingShingle Jiying Ling
Nagwan Zahry
Sisi Chen
Yingcen Xie
Hannah Lalonde
Lorraine B. Robbins
Jean M. Kerver
A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
Critical Public Health
Mindful eating
food insecurity
parenting
children
rural
title A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
title_full A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
title_fullStr A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
title_full_unstemmed A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
title_short A mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
title_sort mindful eating program improved home eating environment and reduced food insecurity among rural economically marginalized families
topic Mindful eating
food insecurity
parenting
children
rural
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2505110
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