FOODLIT-Trial: Digital Behaviour Change Intervention to Improve Food Literacy Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida

Status: Completed

Conditions: Eating Behavior; Food Habits; Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms; Food Literacy

Treatments: Behavioral: Experimental Group; Behavioral: Comparison Group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04806074

SFRH/BD/128528/2017

Details and patient eligibility

About

Given that healthy food-related habits are protective of both malnutrition and multiple noncommunicable diseases (including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), and acknowledging that poor diets constitute a greater risk to mortality, it is essential to improve individuals' food-related knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Furthermore, the current public health context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for an adequate diet as a protective factor for one's global health.

In the ambit of the FOODLIT-PRO: Food Literacy Project (ref. SFRH/BD/128528/2017), a digital intervention to promote food literacy - that is, food-related knowledge, competencies, and behaviours - encompassing behavioural change strategies and psychological determinants (such as intention, planning, and self-efficacy) was developed.

With the online deliver of personalised evidence-based materials concerning food literacy, adult participants receive weekly challenges that promote their food-related knowledge (e.g., recognising food's origin and seasonality), competencies (e.g., as cooking and planning skills), and behaviours (e.g., tracking food intake, interpret nutritional labels). Matched with tailored behavioural change strategies (experimental group), both food literacy content and psychological aspects that relate to health behaviour are assessed weekly in order to evaluate the intervention's efficacy. Follow-ups at 3-, 6- and 9-months post intervention will be assessed.

Enrollment: 215 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Having a minimum of digital literacy to access, visualise and download online material related to the intervention;
• Having the availability to participate in the intervention (11 weeks) and posterior follow-up moments.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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215 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Single-moment, unspecified delivery of food literacy information

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Non-specific food-related national and international guidelines were made digitally available in a website exclusively accessible to all the participants from the comparison group.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Comparison Group

Personalised, weekly delivery of food literacy information matched with behaviour strategies

Experimental group

Description:

Food-related tips - including theoretical knowledge, practical competencies, and behaviours - from national and international guidelines were specifically matched with Behaviour Change Techniques from the BCT Taxonomy v1. These personalised material were made digitally available in a website exclusively accessible to all the participants from the experimental group. Presenting each week's topic, a small video featuring the lead psychologist was also made available each week.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Experimental Group