Buy 1 Get 1: Role of Grocery Coupons in Promoting Obesogenic Home Food Environments and Eating Behaviors

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Obesity
• Interventions: Other: Financial incentives

• Registration Number: NCT01710124
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Brief Summary

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among older adults has reached an all-time high, which puts this age group at high risk for associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer. Confronted with declining incomes and economic uncertainty, many middle-aged and older Americans tried to save on their food purchases during the 2007-2009 recession. Grocery coupons, available through newspapers, mail, and increasingly online, are one of several promotional tools that supermarkets and warehouse clubs use to promote sales. It is estimated that nationally 27% of households are frequent grocery coupon users who shop at a variety of retailers. Despite the increasing popularity of grocery coupons, little is known about the extent to which they may promote obesogenic home food environments and eating behaviors. Many coupons advertise the purchase of large quantities of prepackaged and processed foods and often reward shoppers by adding 'free' products if they purchase certain quantities. Availability and easy accessibility of large portions of energy dense foods in the home has been shown to promote increased intake. The proposed study seeks to examine the effects of frequent grocery coupon usage on dietary intake, weight status, and home food availability among middle-aged and older adults. A second aim of this study is to test, in a randomized-controlled trial, the effects of incentivizing grocery coupon use for the purchase of healthy foods on 3-month changes in dietary intake, body mass index/waist circumference, home food availability, and grocery coupon use among frequent coupon users and non-coupon users.

Detailed Description

Not available

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2012-09
• Study First Submitted: 2012-10-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-10-16
• Study First Posted: 2012-10-18
• Study Start: 2013-01
• Primary Completion: 2013-07
• Study Completion: 2013-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-06-09
• Last Update Posted: 2015-06-11

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 54

Inclusion Criteria

• 40 - 70 years of age
• frequent grocery coupon users
• non-coupon users

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Exclusion Criteria

• dieting
• medication use or medical conditions known to affect food intake and weight

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Incentive	Financial incentives	Subjects in this group will receive financial incentives for using grocery coupons to purchase healthy foods.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Dietary intake	Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)
Waist circumference	Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)
Body mass index	Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of healthy and less healthy foods in the home	Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

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