Messages for Increasing Dairy Consumption (MilkMessage)

University of British Columbia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dietary Modification

Treatments: Behavioral: Gain-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy; Behavioral: Self-Regulatory Efficacy; Behavioral: Loss-Framed; Behavioral: Gain-Framed; Behavioral: Loss-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02586467

H12-00332

Details and patient eligibility

About

Over 35,000 Canadians, 65% of men and 72% of women aged 31-50 years fail to consume the recommended number of milk and milk product servings (≤2 servings per day). Given the wide range of health benefits associated with increased dietary intake of milk and milk products the objectives of this study were to conduct a prospective, 5-arm randomised controlled trial in order to test the effectiveness of a variety of messages for increasing milk and milk product consumption in men and women aged 30-50 years old. The five arms consisted of 4 messages that contained slightly different content specifically: 1) gain-framed message condition, 2) loss-framed message condition, 3) self-regulatory efficacy-enhancing message condition, 4) gain-framed and self-regulatory efficacy-enhancing message condition and 5) loss-framed plus self-regulatory efficacy-enhancing message condition. It was hypothesised that those who receive self-regulatory efficacy-enhancing information would consume more dairy than those who received messages without such information. Second, those who received gain-framed messages would consume more dairy as compared to those who received loss-framed messages. Third, those who received gain-framed messages that include self-regulatory efficacy-enhancing information would consume the most dairy in comparison to the other four conditions.

Enrollment: 732 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 30 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Between 30 and 50 years of age
• Consume less than 2 servings of milk or milk products per day
• No health or religious reasons to avoid milk and milk products
• Regular access to the internet
• Can speak and read English

Exclusion criteria

• Dietary restrictions, allergies, or medical reasons for limiting dairy intake will be excluded

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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732 participants in 5 patient groups

Gain-Framed

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive messages that highlight the potential benefits of engaging in a specific behaviour (i.e., what positive outcomes they could experience from consuming milk and milk products).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gain-Framed

Loss-Framed

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive messages that highlight the potentially loses of not engaging in a specific behaviour (i.e., what they could lose from not consuming milk and milk products).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Loss-Framed

Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive messages that provide them with tips and strategies on how to engage in the consumption of milk and milk products (i.e., recipes, meal planning etc.)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Gain-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive messages that highlight the potential benefits of engaging in a specific behaviour (i.e., what positive outcomes they could experience from consuming milk and milk products) and these messages also provide tips and strategies on how to engage in the consumption of milk and milk products (i.e., recipes, meal planning etc.).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gain-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Loss-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive messages that highlight the potentially loses of not engaging in a specific behaviour (i.e., what they could lose from not consuming milk and milk products) and these messages also provide tips and strategies on how to engage in the consumption of milk and milk products (i.e., recipes, meal planning etc.).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Loss-Framed + Self-Regulatory Efficacy