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Meals 4 Moms: A Multilevel Community-based Lifestyle Intervention for GDM

Meals 4 Moms: Development and Feasibility of a Multilevel Community-based Lifestyle Intervention for Gestational Diabetes

Status
Terminated
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06227247
Enrollment
8
Registered
2024-01-26
Start date
2024-03-05
Completion date
2025-01-07
Last updated
2026-05-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Gestational Diabetes

Keywords

Diabetes, Gestational diabetes, Pregnancy, Exercise, Nutrition, Diabetes education

Brief summary

The goal of the project is to conduct a pilot feasibility randomized trial comparing a community-based lifestyle intervention called Meals for Moms (M4M) versus the usual care for pregnant persons diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GDM). Participants will be randomly placed into the usual care (UC) comparison group or the M4M healthy living program, which includes continued GDM education, physical activity level monitoring, and delivery of medically-tailored GDM meals. The trial will assess if M4M is feasible for the management of gestational diabetes in pregnant patients.

Detailed description

Gestational diabetes mellitus, or GDM, affects many pregnancies throughout the United States contributing to an increased risk of negative pregnancy outcomes such as delivery complications, hospitalizations, and poor clinical outcomes for both patients and infants. Additionally, many pregnant patients with GDM will progress to developing Type 2 diabetes within their lifetime. GDM, therefore, is the perfect window of opportunity for the prevention of diabetes. GDM management requires education and adoption of a specific diet, daily blood sugar monitoring, exercise, and compliance with prenatal visits. Adopting all these changes may be hard to understand and comply with in a short window of time as, on average, patients are diagnosed GDM 8 to 10 before delivery. Thus, to achieve these goals quickly, patients must have immediate access to nutrient-rich food, and on-going education and support regarding healthy-meal preparation, including portion sizes, frequency, and composition of healthy snacking. Previous and on-going research on health food prescription programs and supervised exercise sessions are often not performed with patients with GDM. To address this gap, investigators aim to develop a lifestyle intervention that promotes self-efficacy with unsupervised exercise and evidence-based behavioral strategies (e.g. goal setting, monitoring and feedback) and incorporate the use of physical activity tracking devices to support these strategies. This project has two distinct phases. First, to develop the novel Meals for Moms (M4M) community-based lifestyle intervention using feedback and input from women living with GDM. Second, to conduct a pilot feasibility randomized trial comparing the feasibility, compliance, and acceptability of the M4M intervention versus the usual care for pregnant persons diagnosed with GDM.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALMeals4Moms Intervention

A community-based, healthy living program including continued gestational diabetes (GDM) education, physical activity level monitoring, and delivery of medically-tailored GDM meals for the management of gestational diabetes in pregnant people.

Sponsors

UConn Health
Lead SponsorOTHER
University of Connecticut
CollaboratorOTHER
Trinity Health Of New England
CollaboratorOTHER
Hartford Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

We plan to randomize 40 participants 1:1 to the M4M intervention vs usual GDM care (UC)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 49 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* 18-49 years old * Current singleton pregnancy * GDM diagnosis between 24+0 and 31+6 weeks gestation, and no more than 4weeks from time of diagnosis at time of enrollment. * Currently receiving gestational diabetes management at the UConn Health Maternal Fetal Clinic, St. Francis's Hospital Women's Health clinic, Hartford Healthcare Women's Ambulatory Health Services (WAHS) * Intends to deliver at either UConn Health, St. Francis Hospital or Hartford Healthcare * Able to read and understand English well enough to participate in the study in English * Daily access to the internet from smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop/desktop computer that they can use to participate in the study * Medical clearance to participate from prenatal care provider including clearance to engage in physical activity * Able to provide verbal or written consent for each component of the study procedures and data collection * Currently lives within one of the meal delivery areas in Connecticut to allow for meal delivery (total of 32 eligible towns/cities)

Exclusion criteria

* Unable or unwilling to give informed consent or communicate with study staff. * Diabetes mellitus (Type I or Type II). * GDM diagnosed prior to 24 weeks gestation or after 32+0 weeks gestation. * Patient is scheduled for a preterm delivery for medical reasons (i.e., placenta accreta, prior classical incision) at time of eligibility screening or at any time prior to randomization. * Concurrent participation in another research study providing intervention related to GDM, pregnancy, diet, and/or physical activity. * Medical conditions that may result in the inability to tolerate solid foods (i.e., hyperemesis gravidarum). * Medical condition which would prohibit participation as indicated by prenatal care provider providing medical clearance. * Dietary restrictions that cannot be accommodated for during meal preparation. * Currently does not live in one of the towns listed within the meal delivery area. * Has plans to move to out of the meal delivery area between enrollment and expected pregnancy due date.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Acceptability (Participate Again)Follow-Up (aim: within 2 weeks post-delivery)Percent of participants who report they would be likely or very likely to participate again if they had gestational diabetes (GDM) again.
Acceptability (Recommended)Follow-Up (aim: within 2 weeks post-delivery)Percent of participants who report they would be likely to very likely to recommend the M4M intervention to a friend with gestational diabetes (GDM).
RecruitmentBaselineRecruitment rates will be calculated from the number of patients approached and reasons for ineligibility and non-participation.
RetentionFollow-Up (aim: within 2 weeks post-delivery)Percent of participants who complete any aspect of the follow-up assessment.
Receipt of Intervention (Meal Ordering)Follow-Up (aim: within 2 weeks post-delivery)Percent of participants who spent at least 80% of weekly $266 food budget.
Receipt of Intervention (Exercise Session Completion)Follow-Up (aim: within 2 weeks post-delivery)Percent of participants who completed at least 80% of exercise sessions they were eligible to complete.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAndrea Shields, MD, MS

UConn Health

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous30.5 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 3
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
1 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
7 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
8 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
8 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
8 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 40 / 4
other
Total, other adverse events
1 / 41 / 4
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 40 / 4

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 6, 2026