Buy 1 Get 1: Role of Grocery Coupons in Promoting Obesogenic Home Food Environments and Eating Behaviors

NCT01710124 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 816224
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 54
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among older adults has reached an all-time high, which puts this age group at high risk for associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer. Confronted with declining incomes and economic uncertainty, many middle-aged and older Americans tried to save on their food purchases during the 2007-2009 recession. Grocery coupons, available through newspapers, mail, and increasingly online, are one of several promotional tools that supermarkets and warehouse clubs use to promote sales. It is estimated that nationally 27% of households are frequent grocery coupon users who shop at a variety of retailers. Despite the increasing popularity of grocery coupons, little is known about the extent to which they may promote obesogenic home food environments and eating behaviors. Many coupons advertise the purchase of large quantities of prepackaged and processed foods and often reward shoppers by adding 'free' products if they purchase certain quantities. Availability and easy accessibility of large portions of energy dense foods in the home has been shown to promote increased intake. The proposed study seeks to examine the effects of frequent grocery coupon usage on dietary intake, weight status, and home food availability among middle-aged and older adults. A second aim of this study is to test, in a randomized-controlled trial, the effects of incentivizing grocery coupon use for the purchase of healthy foods on 3-month changes in dietary intake, body mass index/waist circumference, home food availability, and grocery coupon use among frequent coupon users and non-coupon users.

Conditions

Obesity

Keywords

grocery purchases; financial incentives; obesogenic home food environment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Dietary intake

  Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

• Body mass index

  Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

• Waist circumference

  Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Number of healthy and less healthy foods in the home

  Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

Study Arms (2)

Incentive

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects in this group will receive financial incentives for using grocery coupons to purchase healthy foods.

Other: Financial incentives

No incentive

NO INTERVENTION

Subjects in this group will receive no financial incentives.

Interventions

Financial incentives OTHER

Incentive

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 40 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years of age
• frequent grocery coupon users
• non-coupon users

You may not qualify if:

• dieting
• medication use or medical conditions known to affect food intake and weight

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 9, 2012
• First Posted: October 18, 2012
• Study Start: January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2013
• Study Completion: July 1, 2013
• Last Updated: June 11, 2015

Record last verified: 2012-09

Locations

US (1)