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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04806074

FOODLIT-Trial: Digital Behaviour Change Intervention to Improve Food Literacy Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Given that healthy food-related habits are protective of both malnutrition and multiple noncommunicable diseases (including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), and acknowledging that poor diets constitute a greater risk to mortality, it is essential to improve individuals' food-related knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Furthermore, the current public health context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for an adequate diet as a protective factor for one's global health.

In the ambit of the FOODLIT-PRO: Food Literacy Project (ref. SFRH/BD/128528/2017), a digital intervention to promote food literacy - that is, food-related knowledge, competencies, and behaviours - encompassing behavioural change strategies and psychological determinants (such as intention, planning, and self-efficacy) was developed.

With the online deliver of personalised evidence-based materials concerning food literacy, adult participants receive weekly challenges that promote their food-related knowledge (e.g., recognising food's origin and seasonality), competencies (e.g., as cooking and planning skills), and behaviours (e.g., tracking food intake, interpret nutritional labels). Matched with tailored behavioural change strategies (experimental group), both food literacy content and psychological aspects that relate to health behaviour are assessed weekly in order to evaluate the intervention's efficacy. Follow-ups at 3-, 6- and 9-months post intervention will be assessed.

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Key information

Conditions

Food Literacy Behavior Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Behavior, Animal COVID-19 Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Eating Behavior Feeding Behavior Food Habits Infections Lung Diseases Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Virus Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Lisbon, Portugal

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Having a minimum of digital literacy to access, visualise and download online material related to the intervention;
  • Having the availability to participate in the intervention (11 weeks) and posterior follow-up moments.

Treatment and study plan

Experimental group

Behavioral

Evidence-based food-related national and international guidelines were (i) specifically arranged considering the Food Literacy Wheel (Rosas et al., 2021) and personalised materials contained these guidelines were designed, (ii) matched with tailored behaviour change techniques (BCT Taxonomy v1, by Michie et al., XXXX) that indicated how to develop/implement each competence/behaviour, and (iii) digitally delivered weekly. Psychological variables of the Health Action Process Approach model (HAPA; Schwarzer, 2008) were integrated in the intervention, to study potential food literacy's psychological determinants. Weekly introduction videos featuring the lead psychologist were made available. Participants' groups in WhatsApp were built to incentive experience-sharing. Food literacy domains and HAPA determinants were assessed weekly, post-intervention, and in follow-up moments 3-, 6- and 9-months after the intervention.

Comparison group

Behavioral

Food-related guidelines were delivered in a single moment in the first week of the intervention, on their original format and referring their original source (national's and international's entities websites). There was not a thematic for each specific week. No weekly introduction videos or WhatsApp groups existed in this condition. Food literacy domains and HAPA determinants were assessed weekly, post-intervention, and in follow-up moments 3-, 6- and 9-months after the intervention.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Food Literacy (FOODLIT-Tool)

    Time frame: Measure applied at baseline, one week post-intervention, and at 3-, 6- and 9-months follow-ups in order to evaluate.

    Published at Appetite (Rosas Pimenta, Leal, & Schwarzer, 2022), this is a 24-item tool that assesses the perception of food literacy-related knowledge, competencies, and behaviours, according to the Food Literacy Wheel (Rosas et al., 2021). The food literacy aspects are measured through five domains: (i) origin, (ii) production and quality, (iii) select and plan, (iv) environmentally safe, and (v) cooking skills.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Assessment of Health Action Process Approach Model (HAPA) Variables

    Time frame: Measure at baseline, one week post-intervention, and at 3-, 6- and 9-months follow-ups

    All measures of the HAPA model were based on the work of Schwarzer (2008) and Godinho, Alvarez, Lima, and Schwarzer (2014).

    A total of 46-items assessed (i) outcome expectations, (ii) risk perception, (iii) action self-efficacy, (iv) maintenance self-efficacy, (v) recovery self-efficacy, (vi) intention, (vii) action planning, (viii) coping planning, and (ix) action control.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida

Other

Collaborators

  • Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Registry information

Official study title

FOODLIT-Trial: Protocol of a Randomised Controlled Digital Intervention to Promote Food Literacy and Food Sustainability Behaviours in Adults Using the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) and the Behaviour Change Techniques Taxonomy (BCTT) During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2021
First posted
Mar 19, 2021
Registry last updated
Oct 19, 2021

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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