Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04235413

Fruits and Vegetables Incentives Study

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives delivered in real-time at point of purchase, on low-income consumers' purchase of fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables consumption, diet quality, and weight/BMI. The study will test real-time incentives compared to a no-incentive control condition.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Obesity Body Weight Fruit and Vegetable Intake Healthy Diet Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Overnutrition Overweight Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

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

To address diet quality disparities in low-income families, policy makers and health experts recommend strategies such as financial incentives to promote consumption of fruits and vegetables. Real-time incentives for purchasing fruits and vegetables are promising strategies to improve families' diets and health.

The aims of the study are:

  • To test the effects of financial incentives, delivered in real-time at the point of purchase, on low-income consumer purchases of fruits and vegetables
  • To evaluate the impact of real-time financial incentives compared to a control condition on FV consumption among adults and their children ,shopping habits, home food environments, diet quality, and weight/BMI
  • To adapt mobile platform technology to provide regular feedback to participants to motivate use of the incentive program to increase purchases and consumption of fruits and vegetables
  • To evaluate participant satisfaction with real-time healthy food choice incentives technology in both SNAP participants and income-eligible non-SNAP participants
  • To assess the acceptability and ease of use of real-time healthy food choice incentives technology among retails supermarket managers and staff in low-income neighborhoods.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Speak English
  • Do most of their food shopping at a participating supermarket
  • Receive or are eligible to receive SNAP benefits
  • Have a child in the household between the ages of 2-17
  • Have a working smartphone
  • Be the main household shopper

Exclusion criteria

  • Participants will be excluded if the primary shopper and/or any children in the family have major medical or dental conditions that would prevent them from eating fruits and vegetables, or if they have a serious neurological disorder, dementia, or psychiatric condition that interferes with understanding study procedures

Treatment and study plan

Real-Time Incentives Group

Behavioral

The use of a novel computer program with a mobile phone interface to provide real-time financial incentives at the point of purchase for discounts on fruit and vegetables in low-income families. This intervention will be applied to subjects randomized to the intervention arm. They will receive 50% off eligible fruits and vegetable products at the point of purchase, up to $10 a week for 6 months. Maximum amount they can receive is $260 in discounts over the 6 month period.

Primary outcomes

  1. Self-reported fruits and vegetables (FV) purchase data

    Time frame: up to 8 months

    Participants will be asked if they increased, maintained, or decreased their purchases of canned, frozen, and fresh FV in the previous months.

  2. Intake of fruits and vegetables (FV) per day

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 8 months

    FV consumption intake will be assessed using the Dietary Screener Questionnaire from NHANES (National Healthy and Examination Survey) 2009-2010.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Total mean of fruits and vegetables expenditures/purchases and incentives earned

    Time frame: up to 8 months

    Solutran analytics, our partner that will be delivering the incentives, will be providing weekly data on FV expenditures/purchases and incentives earned (in dollars). The total mean of FV expenditures/purchases and incentives earned will be computed.

  2. Dietary changes for each adult participant and one child in their household

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 8 months

    High sugar/fat food and sugary beverage intake will be assessed using the Dietary Screener Questionnaire from NHANES (National Healthy and Examination Survey) 2009-2010.

  3. Changes in dietary habits and food environments

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 8 months

    Surveys will ask about perceived availability, cost and quality of FV at stores, the home food environment (both healthy and unhealthy foods), shopping habits and where they shop, FV practices for children in the home, and FV preparation and consumption patterns. Part of the survey is a modified version of the NEMS-P (Nutrition Environment Measures Survey- Perceived).

  4. Changes in BMI

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 8 months

    Self-reported weight and height (inches) will be collected at each time point via self-report. Using weight and height values collected, BMI, BMI categories, and BMI z-scores (for children) will be computed for each time point.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Other

Collaborators

  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Impact of Real-Time Incentives on Fruit and Vegetable Purchases and Diet

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Jan 21, 2020
Registry last updated
Jan 12, 2023

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.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.