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

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Obesity Prevention
• Interventions: Behavioral: Targeted beverage education and financial incentives; Behavioral: Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store

• Registration Number: NCT01990508
• Lead Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital

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.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2013-11-15
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-11-15
• Study First Posted: 2013-11-21
• Study Start: 2014-01
• Primary Completion: 2014-09
• Study Completion: 2014-09
• Status Verified: 2015-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-10-02
• Last Update Posted: 2015-10-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 216

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Targeted beverage education and financial incentives	Targeted beverage education and financial incentives	Study subjects receive monthly letters with beverage education and financial incentives for not purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages
Targeted beverage education and financial incentives	Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store	Study subjects receive monthly letters with beverage education and financial incentives for not purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages
Control	Traffic-light labeling of all beverages in store	Monthly letters with generic nutrition information only

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages	4 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages	4 months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Massachusetts General Hospital; 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States