Choosing Healthier Eating Options at Work and School

NCT02435264 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 11-137
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 476
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Recent national statistics revealed that the prevalence of lifestyle related diseases is increasing in Singapore. Much of this disease burden can be prevented using lifestyle strategies. A large proportion of Singaporeans consume foods prepared by outside vendors. These foods are typically high in refined-grains and saturated fat, and choices for healthier foods like brown-rice often do not exist. The Healthier Dining Program managed by the Health Promotion Board of Singapore, seeks to assess if increasing the availability of healthier food options increases consumer consumption of these foods. The investigators aim to evaluate this program implemented on the National University of Singapore campus. A major output of this evaluation will be the assessment of the barriers and enablers to programme implementation which will provide guidance for the widespread implementation of the programme. Additionally this evaluation can lead to detailed recommendations on policies and programmes relevant to non-home food environments. This is important as successful interventions have the potential of improving the eating behaviors of a vast majority of the population.

Conditions

Healthier Food Consumption

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in proportion of participants consuming healthier meals

  We will compare the between-arm difference in proportion of participants who had healthier meals prepared from out-of-home sources at least once a week at the post-intervention time-point. This information is based on data collected using a 7-day food diary. This is a well established method of dietary assessment. Diary information was reviewed in-person or via phone calls by trained researchers and processed via an in-house food composition database called E-Food system. Each meal consumed by the participant was assessed for whether it was prepared using either the healthier oil blends (≤ 35% saturated fat), wholegrain rice, low-sodium salt, or was lower in calorie (\<500 kcal per serving). A meal that had at least one of these intervention-related characteristics was deemed as being a healthier meal. We will also conduct this analysis separately for each specific healthy meal type.

  Baseline, 10 weeks post intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Differences in out-of-home dietary intake of key nutrients

  Baseline, 10 weeks post intervention

• Differences in total dietary intake of key food groups

  Baseline, 10 weeks post intervention

Study Arms (2)

Healthier Dining Program Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Food centers that receive the Healthier Dining Program (HDP)

Other: Healthier Dining Program Intervention

Control centers

NO INTERVENTION

Food centers that do not receive the Healthier Dining Program (HDP)

Interventions

Healthier Dining Program Intervention OTHER

The food environment at the intervention centers will be modified to increase the availability of healthier foods and low calorie meals.

Healthier Dining Program Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Food vendors:
• years or older Must be stall owner or decision maker
• Consumers 18 year or older (NUS students) or 21 years or older Frequent consumers of foods at NUS canteens or foodcourts

You may not qualify if:

• Consumers:
• Persons unlikely to be on campus during the follow-up interviews

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rob M van Dam: lead
• Ministry of Health, Singapore: collaborator

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 21, 2015
• First Posted: May 6, 2015
• Study Start: October 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2015
• Study Completion: December 1, 2020
• Last Updated: September 28, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share