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

NCT ID: NCT01990508

Last Updated: 2015-10-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 216 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2014-09-30

Brief 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.

Conditions

Obesity Prevention

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Targeted beverage education and financial incentives

Study subjects receive monthly letters with beverage education and financial incentives for not purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Targeted beverage education and financial incentives

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All beverages in the supermarket will be labeled as red, yellow, or green

Control

Monthly letters with generic nutrition information only

Group Type: SHAM_COMPARATOR

Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All beverages in the supermarket will be labeled as red, yellow, or green

Interventions

Targeted beverage education and financial incentives

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store

All beverages in the supermarket will be labeled as red, yellow, or green

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Anne N. Thorndike, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Anne N Thorndike, MD, MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

Locations

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

References

Franckle RL, Levy DE, Macias-Navarro L, Rimm EB, Thorndike AN. Traffic-light labels and financial incentives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage purchases by low-income Latino families: a randomized controlled trial. Public Health Nutr. 2018 Jun;21(8):1426-1434. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018000319. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 29493476 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2013P001130

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id