Clinical trial NCT05131529: Reshaping Food Choice at University of Michigan
Official title: Reshaping Food Choice at University of Michigan Dining Halls to Accelerate Carbon Neutrality
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Climate Change
Food Preferences
Lead sponsor: University of Michigan
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Graham Sustainability Institute of the University of Michigan
First posted: 2021-11-23
Enrollment: 3003
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SEQUENTIAL
Intervention model description: We will carry out the proposed project within six of the University of Michigan's MDining's nine residential dining halls on the Ann Arbor campus. Using a cluster-randomized controlled trial, we will create three matched pairs among the six dining halls based on the size of each facility. One dining hall from each of the pairs will be randomly assigned to a treatment and control group, respectively.

Participants will receive interventions based on which dining halls they visit regularly and most often.
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions originate from agriculture. Consumer demand for food, especially carbon-intensive red meats, largely underlies these emissions. Therefore, reducing consumption of red meat has the potential for transformative impacts on climate change. Our interdisciplinary team of researchers and dining staff aims to determine the carbon impact of evidence-based behavior change interventions to reduce red meat consumption at University of Michigan dining halls. Using an experimental design, we will evaluate the impacts of three "nudge" interventions (i.e., modifying environmental cues and incentives) to reduce red meat consumption in three randomly assigned treatment dining halls vis-à-vis three paired control dining halls. Nudges will include changing default food items and altering food labels. We will: 1) collect data on meals served during each intervention periods to assess the separate and combined effects of the interventions on red meat consumption; 2) conduct e-mail interviews with students to understand treatment effect heterogeneity and sociodemographic determinants of food choice; and, 3) conduct focus group discussions and interviews, respectively, with students and dining staff to assess implementation feasibility. We expect that this research will generate scalable, replicable solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through dietary change at universities and similar institutions, will significantly advance the food choice literature, and will influence sustainability strategies at university dining operations nationally given the proposed team's close partnership with regional and national dining programs.


Eligibility criteria: Student Survey:

* An individual must have been a frequent diner at one of the six project dining halls during the first three weeks of the academic term
* An individual must have attended only treatment or only control dining halls for 90% or more of their dining hall visits during the first three weeks of the academic term

Student Focus Group:

* Must have participated in the student survey
* We will stratify the sample by selecting respondents whose red meat consumption either increased, decreased or remained the same (based on baseline to endline comparisons of data in the student survey)

Dining Staff Interviews:

- Must have been a non-student member of the Michigan Dining staff at one of the six project dining halls during the relevant intervention period.

Primary outcomes:
measure: The difference in the change in the average amount of red meat served in treatment vs. control dining halls from the pre-intervention to intervention period based on service data from dining hall operations staff
timeFrame: 11 week intervention period (during each of 3 academic semesters)
measure: The difference in the change in the average amount of red meat purchased by dining halls in treatment vs. control dining halls from the pre-intervention to intervention period
timeFrame: 11 week intervention period (during each of 3 academic semesters)
measure: The difference in the change in the average amount of red meat consumed in treatment vs. control dining halls from the pre-intervention to intervention period based on 30-day food frequency questionnaire intake
timeFrame: 11 week intervention period (during each of 3 academic semesters)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: The change in the average amount of red meat served at meal stations in treatment vs. control dining halls from the pre-intervention to intervention period based on service data from dining hall operations staff
timeFrame: 15 weeks (4 week baseline period + 11 week intervention period (during each of 3 academic semesters)
measure: The change in the average amount of red meat purchased by dining halls in treatment vs. control dining halls from the pre-intervention to intervention period
timeFrame: 15 weeks (4 week baseline period + 11 week intervention period (during each of 3 academic semesters)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: University of Michigan
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Michigan
name: Andrew D Jones, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: