A Default Option to Enhance Dietary Quality in Participants With Food Insecurity

Nutrition Poor Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Default Option to Enhance Dietary Quality in Participants With Food Insecurity

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03952949
• Other study ID #: 16-E-260-01
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 4, 2017
• Est. completion date: October 28, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: May 2019
• Source: University at Albany
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Food insecurity is associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity and weight-related chronic illnesses. The availability of a default option (i.e., option a consumer selects if no active choice is made) has been shown to effectively nudge consumer behavior. An online default option (i.e., prefilled grocery shopping cart) was previously shown to positively impact food selection in an online grocery shopping task.The present study provides preliminary evidence for the efficacy of an online default option in enhancing the nutritional quality of online grocery purchases in individuals with food insecurity.

Description:

Food insecurity is associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity and weight-related chronic illnesses. The present study provides preliminary evidence for the efficacy of an online default option in enhancing the nutritional quality of online grocery purchases in individuals with food insecurity.

In behavioral economics, the default option refers to the option a consumer selects if no active choice is made. This study aims to determine whether the use of a default prefilled online grocery shopping cart results in the purchase of healthier food items in individuals with food insecurity, compared to nutrition education. The default approach, a non-monetary intervention that manipulates choice architecture, improves food choice behaviors in individuals facing significant financial constraints. The intervention is potentially broadly scalable via online platforms.

It was hypothesized that the default option effectively increases the nutritional quality of foods purchased online, compared to nutrition education.

Fifty participants recruited from food pantries in New York in 2018 were randomized to: (1) review nutrition information before selecting groceries for a week using a local grocery store's online shopping and delivery service (n = 23) or (2) modify a default prefilled online shopping cart containing groceries that meet nutritional guidelines according to their personal preferences (n = 27).

Primary outcome measures capture the nutritional quality of groceries purchased. Our primary nutritional outcomes include servings of whole grains fruits and vegetables, fiber, daily calories, fat, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol content.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 50
• Est. completion date: October 28, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: October 28, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. age 18 or older

2. single person household

3. fluent in written and spoken English

4. able to provide informed consent

5. food-insecure (verbal agreement that they consider themselves to be of that category) but not currently receiving SNAP benefits (as they would otherwise have access to twice the amount of benefits typically allocated; please note that all participants will be provided with information about enrollment in SNAP following study participation)

6. current residence in a zip code served by Price Chopper's delivery program

Exclusion Criteria:

1. None of the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian/vegan, gluten-free/celiacs disease, and lactose intolerant

2. current residence outside of a zip code served by Price Chopper's delivery program

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Malnutrition
• Nutrition Poor

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Default Option While Online Grocery Shopping
The "default option" is a behavioral economics construct that refers to the option a consumer selects if no active choice is made (e.g. opt-out 401K plans, which significantly increase enrollment, compared to active sign up). Participants in the default condition were presented with a prefilled online shopping cart containing groceries that met nutritional requirements based on participants' gender and age.
• Nutrition Education
The nutrition education materials were adapted from materials currently utilized by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance ("Eat Smart New York").

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University at Albany

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Nutritional Quality of Groceries Purchased	The Thrifty Food Plan Calculator (TFPC) was used to quantify the nutritional quality of groceries selected by study participants. The TFPC was developed using U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition and consumption data and is designed to have users input information about the relative amount of money spent on various categories of food and provides comprehensive information on caloric, macro-, and micronutrient content of the foods selected based on participant age and gender.	Single visit, <1.5 hours