Project Gender NutriScope: Methods of a Mixed Methods, Community-Engaged Study Design to Explore the Nutritional Needs of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth and Young Adults

Objective: Despite growing evidence of distinct nutrition-related experiences and disparities, transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth and young adults are an underrepresented population in nutrition research. This paper describes the methods and study design from Project Gender NutriScope, a study that will explore the nutritional needs of TGD youth and young adults. Design: Parallel convergent cross-sectional mixed methods; community-engaged. Setting: A purposive sample will be recruited in a Midwest city through clinics, youth organizations, and a large state university. Participants: Transgender and gender-diverse youth and young adults aged 13-24 years. Intervention: Findings from this formative study will be used to inform future intervention development. Main Outcome Measures: Dietary intake, eating patterns, disordered eating patterns, food security status, perceptions of relationship with food, and nutrition-related concerns. Analysis: Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive summary statistics. Qualitative data will be analyzed by reflexive thematic analysis. The 2 databases will be integrated iteratively.