Offering Free Fruits and Vegetables to Men at Risk of Poverty

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The study aims to investigate whether the provision of free fresh fruits and vegetables to middle-aged men at risk of poverty increases their fruit and vegetable intake over a period of 4 weeks.

Detailed Description: A total of 100 men (\> 30 years, living alone) with a low SES will be randomly assigned to a control or intervention group while controlling for food bank use. The intervention group will receive free fresh fruits and vegetables consisting of 2 daily portions of their favorite variety over a period of 4 weeks which will be provided to them once per week.

All participants will be asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire as well as a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), a questionnaire on variety of fruits and vegetables consumed and a 24-h-food-recall questionnaire. All questionnaires will be administered by trained interviewers. During the study period, the 24h-food recall questionnaire will be administered four more times; two times before the 4-week intervention period and two times after the intervention period. After the 4-week intervention period, interviewers will administered the FFQ and the questionnaire on variety.

Participants assigned to the control group will receive a fruit and vegetable basket after 4 weeks after baseline.

All participants will receive gift certificates for local supermarkets in the amount of 35,00 €.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

income below 980 € per month
> 30 years of age
living alone
without regular food delivery service (except for e.g. meals on wheels once a day)
born in Germany
speaks German

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Free Fruit and Vegetables	Intervention Group	After baseline assessment of food intake patterns, the intervention will consist of providing free fruits and vegetables of their choice for a period of four weeks which will be provided fresh each week. At baseline and at the end of the 4-week period, a FFQ, two 24h-recalls and a questionnaire on consumed fruit and vegetable variety will be administered.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Amount of Fruits and Vegetables	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Amount of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks
Variety of Fruits and Vegetables	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Types of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Amount of Fruits and Vegetables Among Non-Food Bank Users	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Amount of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks among non-Food Bank Users.
Variety of Fruits and Vegetables Among Non-Food Bank Users	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Types of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks among non-Ffood Bank Users
Variety of Fruits and Vegetables Among Food Bank Users	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Types of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks among food bank users.
Amount of Fruits and Vegetables Among Food Bank Users	baseline and 4 weeks	Change from Baseline in the Amount of Fruit and Vegetables Consumed per Day at 4 weeks among food bank users