Effect of kcal and PACE Labelling on Self-served Portion Size

Socioeconomic Position and the Effect of kcal Labelling and PACE Labelling on Self-served Portion Size

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT04340804

Enrollment

1800

Registered

2020-04-10

Start date

2020-04-13

Completion date

2020-05-13

Last updated

2020-11-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Diet, Healthy, Food Selection

Keywords

kcal labelling, PACE labelling, portion size, socio-economic position

Brief summary

Participants will take part in an online survey. They will be asked to choose the amount of food they would like to eat based on pictures of 18 dishes sequentially displayed on the screen. They will be randomly allocated to four different groups: kcal labelling, PACE labelling (Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent: minutes to walk to burn off the calories), kcal and PACE labelling combined, no labelling, in a between subject design. The main outcome variable is the total self-served energy for each dish (in kcal).

Detailed description

See attached protocol documents.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALKcal labelling

Real-time kcal counter synchronised with the food amount changes

BEHAVIORALPACE labelling

Real-time PACE counter (as minutes needed to walk to burn off the calories) synchronised to the food amount changes

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* United Kingdom residents * Age ≥ 18 * Fluent in English * Have access to a computer and Internet

Exclusion criteria

* Have any dietary restriction (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, diary or lactose free, food allergy)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Total self-served energy (kcal)	10 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to perform the portion selection task and there is no follow up)	Energy content of the portion selected for each dish.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Kcal influence	3 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to fill in the debriefing questionnaire and there is no follow up)	Whether kcal content influences the quantity of self-served food
PACE influence	3 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to fill in the debriefing questionnaire and there is no follow up)	Whether physical activity energy equivalent influences the quantity of self-served food.

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026