Building on a Point-of-purchase Intervention to Encourage Healthy Food Choices

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Food Labeling
• Interventions: Behavioral: Feedback plus incentives; Behavioral: Feedback letters

• Registration Number: NCT01604499
• Lead Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital

Brief Summary

This study builds on the framework of a previously implemented color-coded food labeling intervention in a hospital cafeteria by testing the incremental effectiveness of providing employees with individual feedback and incentives for increasing healthy purchases in a 3-arm randomized controlled trial. The investigators hypothesize that employees assigned to receive feedback will increase healthy purchases more than employees who receive no contact and that employees who receive feedback plus incentives will increase healthy purchases more than those who receive feedback alone.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2012-05-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-05-22
• Study First Posted: 2012-05-23
• Study Start: 2012-09
• Primary Completion: 2013-05
• Study Completion: 2013-05
• Status Verified: 2015-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-10-02
• Last Update Posted: 2015-10-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 2672

Inclusion Criteria

• Employee at Massachusetts General Hospital who uses a cafeteria debit card to pay for cafeteria purchases

Exclusion Criteria

• Employees who do not have a cafeteria debit card
• Employees with cafeteria debit card but who use it fewer than 3 times a month for the 3 months prior to start of trial

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Feedback plus incentives	Feedback plus incentives	Subjects receive feedback letters plus small incentives to increase healthy (green-labeled) purchases in the next month
Feedback only	Feedback letters	Subjects receive feedback letters about the proportion of green, yellow, and red purchases in the cafeteria per month with comparisons to "all employees" and to the "healthiest employees eaters"

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Employee purchases of healthy (green-labeled) items	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Employee purchases of unhealthy (red-labeled) items	6 months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

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