Increased Proportion of Lower Energy Density Items vs. Nutritional Labelling at an Online Supermarket

NCT ID: NCT04340791

Last Updated: 2020-11-03

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

1000 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-04-13

Study Completion Date

2020-05-13

Brief Summary

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This study will be a 2x2 randomised controlled trial with information-based intervention (no labelling / labelling) and structural intervention (default proportion / increased proportion of lower energy density food items) as between-subject factors and energy density (kcal/g) of food purchases during an online supermarket-shopping task as dependent variable. This study will use an online supermarket platform developed to mimic an online supermarket website and participants will be asked to complete a shopping task using a pre-determined shopping list of 10 items.

Detailed Description

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See attached protocol documents.

Conditions

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Diet, Healthy Food Selection

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Default proportion & no labelling

No intervention:

Default proportion condition (33% lower energy density items - 67% higher energy density items). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower ED ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category.

No labelling.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Default proportion & labelling

When energy density of a food item ≤ median of energy density distribution within a food category, "healthier choice" badges will be added to the food item pictures on the online supermarket. Instructions will introduce the badges to the participants as "In the online supermarket, the green tick allows you to see which products (e.g. muesli) in each product category (e.g. cereals) are healthier choices with fewer calories per gram than most other products in the same category."

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Labelling

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

When energy density of an item ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category, "healthier choice" badges will be added to the food item pictures on the online supermarket. Instructions when logging-into the platform will introduce the badges to the participants: "In the online supermarket, the green tick allows you to see which products (e.g. muesli) in each product category (e.g. cereals) are healthier choices with fewer calories per gram than most other products in the same category."

Increased proportion & no labelling

The proportion of lower energy density items vs. higher energy density items will be reversed (67% lower - 33% higher) relative to the default proportion condition (33% lower - 67% higher). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower ED ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Increased proportion of lower energy density items

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The proportion of lower energy density vs. higher energy density items will be reversed (67% lower - 33% higher) relative to the default proportion condition (D and DL) (33% lower - 67% higher). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower energy density ≤ median of energy density distribution within a food category.

Increased proportion & labelling

The proportion of lower energy density items vs. higher energy density items will be reversed (67% lower - 33% higher) relative to the default proportion condition (33% lower - 67% higher). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower ED ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category.

When energy density of a food item ≤ median of energy density distribution within a food category, "healthier choice" badges will be added to the food item pictures on the online supermarket. Instructions will introduce the badges to the participants as "In the online supermarket, the green tick allows you to see which products (e.g. muesli) in each product category (e.g. cereals) are healthier choices with fewer calories per gram than most other products in the same category."

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Increased proportion of lower energy density items

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The proportion of lower energy density vs. higher energy density items will be reversed (67% lower - 33% higher) relative to the default proportion condition (D and DL) (33% lower - 67% higher). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower energy density ≤ median of energy density distribution within a food category.

Labelling

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

When energy density of an item ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category, "healthier choice" badges will be added to the food item pictures on the online supermarket. Instructions when logging-into the platform will introduce the badges to the participants: "In the online supermarket, the green tick allows you to see which products (e.g. muesli) in each product category (e.g. cereals) are healthier choices with fewer calories per gram than most other products in the same category."

Interventions

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Increased proportion of lower energy density items

The proportion of lower energy density vs. higher energy density items will be reversed (67% lower - 33% higher) relative to the default proportion condition (D and DL) (33% lower - 67% higher). Lower energy density items will be defined as lower energy density ≤ median of energy density distribution within a food category.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Labelling

When energy density of an item ≤ median of ED distribution within a food category, "healthier choice" badges will be added to the food item pictures on the online supermarket. Instructions when logging-into the platform will introduce the badges to the participants: "In the online supermarket, the green tick allows you to see which products (e.g. muesli) in each product category (e.g. cereals) are healthier choices with fewer calories per gram than most other products in the same category."

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* United Kingdom residents
* Aged ≥ 18 years
* Fluent in English
* Have access to a computer and Internet
* Responsible for a substantial proportion of household grocery shopping

Exclusion Criteria

* Unable to provide informed consent and to comply with the study requirements
* Any dietary restriction (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy or lactose free, food allergy, other)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University of Liverpool

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Eric Robinson

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University of Liverpool

Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol, Statistical Analysis Plan, and Informed Consent Form

View Document

Study Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Document Type: Individual Participant Data Set

When results will be published

View Document

Other Identifiers

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803194 1B3

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id