Burden and attitude acceptability constructs are associated with usage of a meal kit subscription service delivered to families in an interdisciplinary education intervention

Abstract Background/Objectives: Food security is a multidimensional public health crisis experienced by families nationwide, often addressed by community-based initiatives that combine educational programming and food provisioning. Meal kits are a relatively new and growing food provisioning approach for addressing food security and associated public health concerns like poor diet quality; however, the acceptability of meal kits is not well understood in these contexts. Methods : Books & Cooks is a six-week, community-based family program that delivered literacy and nutrition education as well as meal kits to families with low income. In the fall 2024 and spring 2025 Books & Cooks program, families (n = 150) completed weekly feedback surveys to assess the acceptability of meal kits. Results : Most participating families (94%) and children (78%) used the meal kits in some capacity for at least four of the six intervention weeks. Although families reported some meal kit-associated burdens, their attitudes were primarily positive. Participant burden was negatively associated (family-level: R=-0.411, p < 0.001; child-level: R=-0.191, p = 0.019) and positive attitudes were positively associated (family-level: R = 0.318, p < 0.001; child-level: R = 0.198, p = 0.015) with meal kit usage. Conclusions : These findings indicate that families with low income are willing to use and are highly accepting of meal kits. Future investigations should incorporate more acceptability constructs, qualitative interviews, and food security and diet quality assessments to provide further support for meal kits.