The Menus of Change Health and Heart Benefits for University Students

Healthy Lifestyle Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Menus of Change Health and Heart Benefits for University Students (The MOCHAHS Trial): A Cross-sectional Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05863078
• Other study ID #: TBC
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Start date: January 1, 2024
• Est. completion date: December 2026

Study information

• Verified date: May 2023
• Source: University of Reading
• Contact: Charlotte Mills, PhD
• Phone: 01183787108
• Email: c.e.mills[@]reading.ac.uk
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the health benefits of the Menus of Change in undergraduate university students, by comparing 2 groups: Students eating in the Menus of change catered halls, versus students eating outside the Menus of change meal plan. The main question it aims to answer is:

What are the effects of the menus of change on other vascular outcomes, namely blood pressure? What are the effects of the menus of change on other health markers?

Description:

The Menus of Change (MoC) is an example of behaviour change that was created by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. This initiative is based on a set of around 24 core principles, mainly promoting and serving 'healthy, sustainable, and delicious' food in restaurants and foodservice operations. The University of Reading has successfully implemented the MoC across the campus and in students' accommodations. However, MoC is not implemented across all campus halls.

To date, most of the studies performed in relation to the MoC had explored techniques to encourage students towards healthier, more sustainable diets. Very little research focuses on the associated health outcomes and hence the impact on health of the eating pattern laid out in the MoC principles.

Therefore, this project aims to investigate the health impact of the menu of change on university students, by comparing 2 groups: students eating in MoC catered halls, following the meal plan provided by the university food services, versus students who do not follow the menus of change meal plan. The primary aim will be to investigate the effect of the MoC on vascular outcomes, namely arterial stiffness, a particularly important tool in younger adults with low-moderate cardiovascular disease risk.

Secondary aims will be to investigate other vascular outcomes, namely blood pressure changes, as well as looking at other health markers, such as full blood count, lipid profile, sugar levels, liver and kidney function, and CVD related inflammatory markers. In addition, the study aims to look at the impact of the MoC on stress and anxiety levels and the differences in students' attainment between groups.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: December 2026
• Est. primary completion date: September 30, 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 25 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults

• Home students living in university halls

• Undergraduates

• Can understand participant information sheet and willing to comply with the study design

Exclusion Criteria:

• International students

• postgraduates

• living outside the university halls

• participating in other studies

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy Lifestyle

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Reading

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Depression and anxiety survey	Beck's depression survey, STAI 1 and PANAS	up to 2 weeks before the study visit
Other	Academic attainment	To assess the relationship between healthy diet and academic results	By the end of academic year
Other	Urine dietary biomarkers level	by 24-hours urine sample	24-hours before the study visit
Primary	Arterial stiffness	Arterial stiffness will be measured using Mobil-O-Graph to assess the cardiovascular risk in participants	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	Full blood count	Full blood count levels will be compared between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	Lipid profile	Lipid profile levels will be compared between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	Glucose levels	by comparing levels between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	liver profile	comparing liver profile levels between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	Kidney profile	kidney profile levels to be compared between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	SCFA levels	short chain fatty acids levels to be compared between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary
Secondary	Cardiovascular disease related inflammatory biomarkers	Levels to be compared between both groups	up to 2 weeks after completing a 3-day food diary