Randomized Trial of Financial Incentives to Reduce Sugar-sweetened Beverage Purchases by Low-income, Latino Families

Obesity Prevention Clinical Trial

Official title:

Randomized Trial of Financial Incentives to Reduce Sugar-sweetened Beverage Purchases by Low-income, Latino Families

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01990508
• Other study ID #: 2013P001130
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: November 15, 2013
• Last updated: October 2, 2015
• Start date: January 2014
• Est. completion date: September 2014

Study information

• Verified date: October 2015
• Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Approximately 15% of the US population is enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and 50% are children. Although the goal is to improve nutritional health, preliminary data suggest that enrollment in SNAP is associated with obesity and metabolic risks and that SNAP reimburses $4 billion annually for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). This pilot project tests an innovative strategy to reduce purchase of non-nutritive, SSBs by low-income families with children by combining targeted point-of-purchase education with a randomized trial of financial incentives to discourage purchase of unhealthy beverages. The study will take place at a mid-size grocery store that is located in a low-income, Latino community and where 30% of purchases are made with SNAP. Targeted beverage education will be provided to all study subjects with a traffic-light system to identify healthy and unhealthy beverages at the point-of-purchase. Individual beverage purchases will be tracked by electronically stored cash register sales. Supplementary validation of beverage consumption will be assessed by 24 hour dietary recall. Aim 1 is to conduct a randomized controlled trial to compare purchase and consumption of SSBs by families assigned to a financial incentive to reduce purchase of SSBs with families assigned to control (no incentives). Aim 2 is to compare the purchase of SSBs by families in both arms during the study period when they are exposed to the traffic-light system to a baseline period prior to traffic-light education. Results of this project will provide pilot data for larger scale interventions to promote healthy choices among low-income families.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 216
• Est. completion date: September 2014
• Est. primary completion date: September 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• purchase >75% of groceries at targeted supermarket (regular customer)

• at least one child <= 18 years old living at home

Exclusion Criteria:

• not fluent in Spanish or English

• no address or phone for contact

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Obesity Prevention

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Targeted beverage education and financial incentives

• Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store
All beverages in the supermarket will be labeled as red, yellow, or green

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Massachusetts General Hospital	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Massachusetts General Hospital	Harvard School of Public Health

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Purchase of red-labeled beverages	Pre-post evaluation of purchase of red-labeled beverages before and after the labels are in place	6 months	No
Primary	Purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages		4 months	No
Secondary	Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages		4 months	No