Behavioral Economics to Implement a Traffic Light Nutrition Ranking System: Study 2

NCT ID: NCT06298253

Last Updated: 2025-04-30

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 3750 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-10-01
• Study Completion Date: 2028-06-30

Brief Summary

This is a cluster randomized controlled trial of 30 food pantries affiliated with the Greater Boston Food Bank to test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of fostering accurate use of SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increasing the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. Primary outcomes will be assessed at 6 and 12 months to compare the implementation and effectiveness of the SWAP program in the intervention vs. control pantries.

Detailed Description

This study will test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of encouraging pantries to use SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increase the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. The study design is a 12-month cluster RCT of 30 Greater Boston Food Bank partner pantries comparing a basic SWAP implementation strategy (control, n=15) with a BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy (intervention, n=15). Primary outcomes assessed at 6 and 12 months will be implementation of the SWAP program within pantries and improvement of client food choices and dietary quality. At the end of 12 months, the BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy will be adapted, updated, and offered to the 15 pantries assigned to control (waitlist) at baseline. The 15 intervention pantries will be followed without further intervention.

Conditions

Food Insecurity; Implementation Science; Diet, Healthy; Behavioral Economics

Study Design

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

Study Groups

Behavioral economics-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy

Pantries assigned to the intervention group will receive behavioral nudges for implementing the SWAP nutrition program. These include: 1) invoice labeling with the food labeled as red, yellow, or green; 2) receipt of the SWAP toolkit at no cost; 3) pantry learning communities; 4)incentives to purchase SWAP implementation materials (e.g., shelves); 5) food bank recognition for SWAP implementation.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral economics-enhanced SWAP implementation

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Intervention will include behavioral nudges at baseline and over 12 months to promote use of the SWAP nutrition program for pantries.

Basic SWAP implementation strategy

Pantries assigned to the control arm will receive email communication from the food bank dietitian providing them with information about SWAP, online links to SWAP implementation guides, and encouragement to purchase SWAP Toolkits on their own.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Basic SWAP implementation

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Intervention will include basic information about the SWAP program and encouragement to obtain SWAP toolkits.

Interventions

Behavioral economics-enhanced SWAP implementation

Intervention will include behavioral nudges at baseline and over 12 months to promote use of the SWAP nutrition program for pantries.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Basic SWAP implementation

Intervention will include basic information about the SWAP program and encouragement to obtain SWAP toolkits.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Food pantries enrolled in the study will be partner agencies of the Greater Boston Food Bank that are maximum client choice, are located within approximately 1 hour driving time of Boston (for logistical feasibility), and are not actively using traffic-light nutrition ranking.
• Food pantry clients that complete assessments must be 18 years or older and speak English or Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria

• Food pantries that are not affiliated with the Greater Boston Food Bank and are not maximum client choice.
• Food pantry clients that do not speak English or Spanish.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 90 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Anne N. Thorndike, MD, MPH

Associate 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

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Anne N Thorndike, MD, MPH

Role: CONTACT

athorndike@mgh.harvard.edu

617-724-4608

Douglas Levy, PhD

Role: CONTACT

dlevy3@mgh.harvard.edu

617-643-3595

Facility Contacts

Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH

Role: primary

athorndike@mgh.harvard.edu

617-724-4608

Douglas Levy, PhD

Role: backup

dlevy3@mgh.harvard.edu

617-643-3595

Other Identifiers

2024P000832

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id