Diet, Eating, and Lifestyle Improvement for Valued Employees and Their Relatives

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Diet Habit; Food Habits; Obesity
• Interventions: Other: CSA membership

• Registration Number: NCT03277040
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Brief Summary

Food is widely understood as a cornerstone of health, however multiple barriers stand between well-intentioned, well-informed consumers and the adoption of healthier dietary practices. This mixed-methods randomized controlled trial (RCT) will measure the impact of offering a Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA) share as an employee benefit on household food environments (diets), eating behaviors, and lifestyles.

Detailed Description

Aim: We will test a strategy to increase frequency of cooking meals at home and consumption of healthful, fresh foods by providing study participants with a CSA membership.

Study design: This is a mixed method randomized controlled trial, with survey, home-food audit, and interview components.

Hypothesis: The intervention group who received a CSA membership as an employee benefit will prepare more meals at home and consume more healthful, fresh foods compared to the control group (no CSA participation).

Using both qualitative and quantitative assessments, outcomes will be measured using 3 primary measures:

1. Home food audits at baseline and at week 8 of the intervention. A random selection of participants will have home-food audits completed by members of the research team - those not randomly selected will complete the home-food audit themselves.

2. Self-administered surveys, including food frequency questionnaires, at baseline, week 8, and week 16.

3. Randomly selected participants will be asked to participate in qualitative interviews at the close of the 16-week intervention period.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-09-06
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-09-06
• Study First Posted: 2017-09-08
• Study Start: 2017-09-26
• Primary Completion: 2018-04-10
• Study Completion: 2018-12-01
• Status Verified: 2019-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-02-18
• Last Update Posted: 2019-02-19

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

• Individuals who are non-faculty employees at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Pennsylvania Health System.
• Individuals who score below the median (50th percentile) on dinners prepared at home on screening survey.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Individuals who are under the age of 18.
• Individuals who are already have a CSA membership.

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention (CSA membership)	CSA membership	Employees will gain CSA membership - they will receive bi-weekly deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables to a central location near their place of employment.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quantity of meals prepared and consumed at home.	16 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Self-reported satisfaction with employee benefits	16 Weeks
Time spent preparing meals	16 Weeks
Perceived stress regarding food shopping, meal planning, and meal preparation	16 Weeks	Perceived stress regarding food shopping, meal planning, and meal preparation, measured comparing baseline and follow-up surveys using likert scale questions
Time spent planning meals	16 Weeks
Knowledge and self-efficacy regarding healthy food preparation	16 Weeks	Knowledge and self-efficacy regarding healthy food preparation, measured comparing baseline and follow-up surveys using likert scale questions

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Pennsylvania Health System; 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States