You Are What You Eat: A Randomised Controlled Trial of an Appearance-based Dietary Intervention

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Clinical Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01511484
• Other study ID #: PerceptionLab001
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 23, 2011
• Last updated: January 12, 2012
• Start date: February 2011
• Est. completion date: June 2011

Study information

• Verified date: January 2012
• Source: Perception Lab
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United Kingdom: Department of Health
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study investigated whether illustration of the facial appearance benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption is able to motivate increased intake of this food group. The investigators hypothesize that individuals witnessing illustrations of the impact of a healthy diet will exhibit improvements in diet relative to a control group receiving only information on the health-benefits of this food group.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 73
• Est. completion date: June 2011
• Est. primary completion date: June 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years to 61 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Student or staff member at University of St Andrews

• Has access to email account to receive link to weekly online questionnaire.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exited study before completion

• Unable to make dietary changes due to a medical condition

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Information-only
Selected pages from the British National Health Service (NHS) information booklets ["5 A Day, Just Eat More (fruit & veg)"; pages i, ii, 12-15, 20 & 21] and ["5 A Day, Just Eat More (fruit & veg): What's it all about?"; pages i-ii)] were provided to all participants on completion of baseline questionnaires. The pages provided information on recommended portion sizes, meal planning, health benefits and answered frequently asked diet-related questions
• Generic appearance intervention
Participants in the generic appearance intervention group received images to illustrate the impact of fruit and vegetable consumption on skin appearance. Participants in this group were presented with gender congruent stimuli, constructed by averaging the facial shape and colour of four male/female faces. Participants viewed the gender-congruent set of the resulting stimuli in two forms. Firstly, after completion of baseline questionnaires, images were displayed on a computer monitor. Participants were instructed to select what they perceived as the healthiest face colour, which was recorded by the computer program over two trials. Participants in this group also received a take-home photo quality leaflet to further illustrate the effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on skin colour.
• Personalised appearance intervention
Participants in this group received stimuli manipulated in identical ways to that received by the generic appearance-intervention group, except the illustrations were performed upon images of the participant's own face.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United Kingdom	Perception Lab, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews	St Andrews	Fife

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Perception Lab	Unilever R&D

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United Kingdom, 

References & Publications (3)

Stephen ID, Coetzee, V, Perrett D. Carotenoid and Melanin Pigment Coloration Affect Perceived Human Health. Evolution and Human Behaviour.32(3): 216-227. 2011.

Stephen ID, Law Smith MJ, Stirrat MR, Perrett DI. Facial Skin Coloration Affects Perceived Health of Human Faces. Int J Primatol. 2009 Dec;30(6):845-857. Epub 2009 Oct 26. — View Citation

Whitehead RD, Ozakinci G, Stephen ID, Perrett DI. Appealing to vanity: could potential appearance improvement motivate fruit and vegetable consumption? Am J Public Health. 2012 Feb;102(2):207-11. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300405. Epub 2011 Dec 15. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Fruit and vegetable consumption	Participants completed a computerised food frequency questionnaire to establish fruit and vegetable consumption. Participants were asked to retrospectively report consumption frequency of fruit juice, fruit, vegetable juice, salad, vegetable soup and vegetable items over the past seven days. Participants reported consumption of standard portion sizes and were provided with NHS illustrations of portion size guidelines to assist estimations.	up to 10 weeks	No