Clinical trial NCT06298253: Behavioral Economics to Implement a Traffic Light Nutrition Ranking System: Study 2
Official title: Behavioral Economics to Implement a Traffic Light Nutrition Ranking System in a Network of Food Pantries: Study 2
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Food Insecurity
Implementation Science
Diet, Healthy
Behavioral Economics
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-03-07
Enrollment: 3750
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 90
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This is a cluster randomized controlled trial of 30 food pantries affiliated with the Greater Boston Food Bank to test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of fostering accurate use of SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increasing the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. Primary outcomes will be assessed at 6 and 12 months to compare the implementation and effectiveness of the SWAP program in the intervention vs. control pantries.

Detailed description: This study will test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of encouraging pantries to use SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increase the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. The study design is a 12-month cluster RCT of 30 Greater Boston Food Bank partner pantries comparing a basic SWAP implementation strategy (control, n=15) with a BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy (intervention, n=15). Primary outcomes assessed at 6 and 12 months will be implementation of the SWAP program within pantries and improvement of client food choices and dietary quality. At the end of 12 months, the BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy will be adapted, updated, and offered to the 15 pantries assigned to control (waitlist) at baseline. The 15 intervention pantries will be followed without further intervention.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Food pantries enrolled in the study will be partner agencies of the Greater Boston Food Bank that are maximum client choice, are located within approximately 1 hour driving time of Boston (for logistical feasibility), and are not actively using traffic-light nutrition ranking.
* Food pantry clients that complete assessments must be 18 years or older and speak English or Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Food pantries that are not affiliated with the Greater Boston Food Bank and are not maximum client choice.
* Food pantry clients that do not speak English or Spanish.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Pantry SWAP implementation
timeFrame: 6 months and 12 months
measure: Percent items (by weight) ordered by pantry that are labeled green or red
timeFrame: 6 months and 12 months
measure: Percent of pantry clients' selected food that is green or red
timeFrame: 6 months and 12 months
measure: Client dietary quality score
timeFrame: 6 months and 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Skin carotenoid level
timeFrame: 6 months and 12 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Massachusetts General Hospital
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: Anne N Thorndike, MD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: