Encouraging Healthy Food Shopping and Eating Behaviors by Price Reduction: A Community Supermarket Study

New York Obesity and Nutrition Research Center

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Discount intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01509664

05-115

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators plan to test the effect of price reduction of fruits and vegetables and non-caloric beverages on food purchasing, food intake, body weight, and body composition of primarily single adult shoppers. One hundred subjects will be randomized to an experimental or control group for a 4 month period. In the experimental group, there will be an automated 50% reduction in fruits vegetables and non-caloric beverages during the middle 2-month period. The investigators expect to observe significant changes in food shopping and eating behavior during this period, which should lead to body weight and fat loss. Some of these new shopping patterns should persist in the last month of the study even though prices revert.

Enrollment: 137 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• regularly buy 50% of groceries at designated supermarket
• primary food shopper for household, shopping for up to one other person, not counting children ≤ 6 years old

Exclusion criteria

• significant medical or psychiatric conditions
• participation in a weight loss program or a related study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

137 participants in 2 patient groups

Discount intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Receives 50% discount intervention on selected fruits and vegetables at participating supermarket.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Discount intervention

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Received no discount at the participating supermarket.