Adult
Conditions
Keywords
eHealth, Food purchase, Behavior change, Randomized controlled trial
Brief summary
The FoodCoach study is a 9-week randomized controlled trial from the University of St.Gallen and the University Hospital of Bern, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation #188402 and by Sanitas Management AG. Sanitas Management AG supports the recruiting of study participants without interfering with the study content. FoodCoach aims to investigate the effectiveness of improving people's food shopping healthiness by providing automated food shopping recommendations. The results of the study could possibly help improve the health status of the Swiss population and beyond in a low-cost and automated manner. The investigators collect participant grocery data via the loyalty card programs Migros Cumulus and Coop Supercard after obtaining participants' informed consent. From this data, the investigators generate automated recommendations that are based on the Nutri-Score framework and expertise of dieticians at the University Hospital of Bern. After sign-up, participants are randomized into a treatment and a control group. The treatment group receives automated recommendations via the FoodCoach Web Application, while the control group only receives a report about their food shopping by email after the intervention phase. Both groups need to finish the same onboarding survey where the investigators collect basic demographic information. After the intervention, the treatment group will receive a post-study survey containing two parts via email. Part 1 includes questions about the ease of use, interface and satisfaction and usefulness of the FoodCoach app. Part 2 includes questions about the participants' weight and height, the motivation to shop healthily and sustainably. The control group will receive a post-study survey which only contains part 2 as described before via email.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFoodCoach
The FoodCoach app displays transparent analysis and recommendations regarding participant's food purchases recorded on their loyalty cards. It tries to help participants understand why and how they should/can shop more healthily, motivating them to change their unhealthy food purchase behavior.
Sponsors
University hospital of Bern
Swiss National Science Foundation
Sanitas Management AG
University of St.Gallen
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
* Participants need to be at least 18 years old by the time they join the study. * Participants need to participate in at least one of the two loyalty card programmes, i.e., Migros Cumulus and/or Coop Supercard. * Participants need to be German- and/or English-speaking, as the FoodCoach application is in German and English.
Exclusion criteria
* Younger than 18 years old by the time the participants join the study. * Do not participate in at least one of the two loyalty card programmes, i.e., Migros Cumulus and/or Coop Supercard. * Not German- and/or English-speaking, so that the participants cannot understand the content of the app.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Food purchase behavior - grains, potatoes and legumes purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - fruit purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - vegetable purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - protein food purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - processed food purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - beverage purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - oils, fats, sauces, nuts and seeds purchase change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Body mass index change | Baseline, 9 weeks | Survey data. Note that the post-study survey is voluntary because the investigators cannot force participants to finish it. |
| Food purchase behavior - overall food shopping healthiness change | Baseline, 9 weeks | The overall food shopping healthiness as indicated by Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System Dietary Index |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Food purchase behavior - sugar purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - saturated fatty acids purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - sodium purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - fiber purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - protein purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
| Food purchase behavior - energy purchase change | Baseline, 9weeks | Loyalty card data |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed