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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04011384

A Trial of Behavioral Economic Interventions Among Food Pantry Clients

Obesity, unhealthy dietary habits, and food insecurity are major public health concerns, especially affecting individuals living in poverty. Food pantries, which provide free food to those in need, are increasingly interested in promoting healthy choices, but few rigorous studies have tested healthy eating interventions in food pantry settings. The overall objective of this proposal is to conduct a randomized-controlled trial among 500 regular food pantry clients to compare the influence of a behavioral economic intervention to promote healthier food choices delivered via a web-based ordering platform to usual care (control group).

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Key information

Conditions

Food Preferences Behavior Feeding Behavior

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

About this study

The primary objective of this proposal is to evaluate the influence of a web-based behavioral economic intervention compared to a control group on the following outcomes among food pantry clients: 1) Nutritional quality of food chosen at the pantry using food transaction data; 2) Fruit and vegetable intake measured by biomarkers and food frequency questionnaires; 3) Objectively measured biomarkers of health. The web-based behavioral economic intervention will include the following modifications to the online shopping platform: 1) Healthy food shopping cart defaults, 2) healthy placement choice architecture, 3) traffic light nutrition labels, 4) social norms messaging, and 5) healthy swaps. Food transaction data will be collected from the online system at baseline and then continuously for the remaining 3 months of the study (participants typically shop monthly). Surveys and objective biomarkers will be collected at baseline and three-months.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • ≥18 years old
  • primary grocery shopper for the family
  • a regular in-person client at the food pantry (i.e., shops at pantry ≥ 1 per month)
  • able to use the web-based touchscreen ordering system
  • able to use a blood pressure cuff and scale provided to them for taking blood pressure and weight
  • able to come outside their home for 5 minutes for the Veggie Meter measurement

Exclusion criteria

  • <18 years old
  • not the primary grocery shopper for the family
  • not a regular client at the food pantry (i.e., shops at pantry < 1 per month)
  • not able to use the web-based touchscreen ordering system
  • not able to use a blood pressure cuff and scale provided to them for taking blood pressure and weight
  • not able to come outside their home for 5 minutes for the Veggie Meter measurement

Treatment and study plan

Behavioral economic intervention of online purchasing at a food pantry

Behavioral

This intervention includes multiple behavioral economic interventions, healthy food shopping cart defaults, healthy placement choice architecture, traffic light nutrition labels, social norms messaging, and healthy swaps.

Primary outcomes

  1. Mean Monthly Change in Number of Units of Healthier Foods

    Time frame: Collected from the online system at baseline and then each month for the remaining 3 months of participation.

    Average monthly change from baseline across 3 months of participation, in number of units of healthier foods (labeled with a green traffic light) purchased per shopping trip using the food pantry's definition of a unit.

  2. Mean Monthly Change in Number of Units of Less Healthy Foods

    Time frame: Collected from the online system at baseline and then each month for the remaining 3 months of participation.

    Average monthly change from baseline across 3 months of participation, in number of units of less healthy foods (labeled with a red or yellow traffic light) purchased per shopping trip using the food pantry's definition of a unit.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Mean Monthly Change in Calories From Healthier Foods Per Shopping Trip

    Time frame: Collected from the online system at baseline and then each month for the remaining 3 months of participation.

    Average monthly change from baseline across 3 months of participation, in number of calories from healthier foods per shopping trip.

  2. Mean Monthly Change in Calories From Less Healthy Foods Per Shopping Trip

    Time frame: Collected from the online system at baseline and then each month for the remaining 3 months of participation.

    Average monthly change from baseline across 3 months of participation, in number of calories from less healthy foods per shopping trip.

  3. Self-reported Change in Fruit and Vegetable Intake

    Time frame: Assessed at baseline and 3 months.

    Change from baseline in fruit and vegetable intake as measured by the National Cancer Institute (NCI)'s fruit and vegetable module of the Dietary Screener Questionnaire in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Scores estimate average daily cup equivalents of total fruit and vegetable servings.

  4. Biomarker Change in Fruit and Vegetable Intake

    Time frame: Assessed at baseline and 3 months.

    Change from baseline in carotenoid levels (scores range 0-800) as measured by the VeggieMeter®. The VeggieMeter® is a spectroscopy-based skin carotenoid measurement device, created by Longevity Link Corporation in 2015. It uses pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy (RS) to detect and quantify skin carotenoids as a proxy for fruit and vegetable intake in humans. Validation studies show VeggieMeter scores to be highly correlated with blood serum measures of carotenoids (R=.81). Higher units represent a higher concentration of carotenoids in the skin.

  5. Change in Body Mass Index (BMI)

    Time frame: Assessed at baseline and 3 months.

    Change from baseline in BMI (weight in kg / height in meters^2)

  6. Change in Systolic Blood Pressure

    Time frame: Assessed at baseline and 3 months.

    Change from baseline in systolic blood pressure (indicator of heart health)

  7. Change in Diastolic Blood Pressure

    Time frame: Assessed at baseline and 3 months.

    Change from baseline in diastolic blood pressure (indicator of heart health)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Other

Collaborators

  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  • University of Connecticut

Registry information

Official study title

A Randomized Trial of Web-based Behavioral Economic Interventions to Promote Healthy Food Choices Among Food Pantry Clients

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Jul 8, 2019
Registry last updated
Feb 29, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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