Free Living Food Waste Management and Diet Quality Improvement Using Smart Intervention and Food Image Application

NCT05061888 | Active Not Recruiting Results

• 1 other identifier: PBRC 2021-015
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 46
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The primary aim of this study is to reduce household food waste and improve individual nutrition. This will be achieved using the FoodImageTM smartphone app 1, a novel method for measuring household food acquisition, food intake, and food waste decisions, to assess the efficacy of a smart intervention that targets food waste reduction and diet quality improvement. The intervention is designed to improve nutrition by offsetting intake of less nutritious foods with increased fresh fruit and vegetable (FV) intake while simultaneously reducing household food waste via strategies tailored to participating households.

Conditions

Diet, Healthy

Keywords

Food Waste; Diet Quality; Stress Management; Food Intake

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (10)

• The Impact of Free FV Provision on Household FV Intake.

  We will test if levels of household FV intake change significantly over 4 weeks among participants randomized to the control condition, which includes free FV provision and a placebo (stress management) intervention not focused on food waste. FV intake will be measured with the FoodImage app. FV intake will be quantified as the total number of servings of FV eaten per day, with FV servings defined by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED).

  4 weeks

• The Impact of Free FV Provision on Levels of Household Food Waste, Measured in Grams.

  We will test if levels of household food waste change significantly over 4 weeks among participants randomized to the control condition, which includes free FV provision and a placebo (stress management) intervention not focused on food waste. Food waste will be measured with the FoodImage app. Food waste will be quantified as total grams of food waste per day.

  4 weeks

• The Impact of Free FV Provision on Levels of Household Food Waste, Measured in Calories.

  We will test if levels of household food waste change significantly over 4 weeks among participants randomized to the control condition, which includes free FV provision and a placebo (stress management) intervention not focused on food waste. Food waste will be measured with the FoodImage app. Food waste will be quantified as total calories of food waste per day.

  4 weeks

• Change in Fruit and Vegetable Intake With Smart Intervention Compared to Pre-intervention Baseline

  Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed at baseline and post-intervention using data collected via the FoodImage app for three consecutive days prior to the first free fruit and vegetable pickup and three days following the final pickup. Intake was calculated in servings/day. Change is calculated as post-intervention value minus pre-intervention value, where positive values indicate an increase in intake and negative values indicate a decrease.

  4 weeks

• Change in Diet Quality (Healthy Eating Index) With Smart Intervention Compared to Pre-intervention Baseline

  Diet quality will be assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020), a validated tool that measures adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better diet quality. The total HEI score is calculated based on intake data collected via the FoodImage app over a 3-day period before and after the 4-week Smart intervention. The intervention includes the free provision of fruits and vegetables (FV) and aims to reduce food waste and replace less healthy foods with FV.

  4 weeks

• Determine if a Smart Intervention to Reduce Food Waste and Replace Less Healthy Foods With FV Significantly Increases FV Plate Waste Compared to Pre-intervention Baseline.

  We will test if levels of FV plate waste change significantly over 4 weeks among participants randomized to the control condition, which includes free FV provision and a placebo (stress management) intervention not focused on food waste. FV plate waste will be measured with the FoodImage app. FV plate waste will be quantified as total grams of food waste per day.

  4 weeks

• Determine if a Smart Intervention to Reduce Food Waste and Replace Less Healthy Foods With FV Significantly Reduces Household Level Food Waste, Measured in Grams, Compared to a Control Intervention.

  We will test if a smart intervention to reduce food waste and replace less healthy foods with FV significantly reduces food waste over 4 weeks compared to a control (stress management) intervention. Both interventions include FV provision. Food waste will be measured with the FoodImage app. Food waste will be quantified as total grams of food waste per day.

  4 weeks

• Determine if a Smart Intervention to Reduce Food Waste and Replace Less Healthy Foods With FV Significantly Reduces Household Level Food Waste, Measured in Calories, Compared to a Control Intervention.

  We will test if a smart intervention to reduce food waste and replace less healthy foods with FV significantly reduces food waste over 4 weeks compared to a control (stress management) intervention. Both interventions include FV provision. Food waste will be measured with the FoodImage app. Food waste will be quantified as total calories of food waste.

  4 weeks

• The Impact of Free FV Provision on Household FV Acquisition.

  We will test if levels of household FV acquisition change significantly over 4 weeks among participants randomized to the control condition, which includes free FV provision and a placebo (stress management) intervention not focused on food waste. FV acquisition will be measured with the Foodlmage app. FV acquisition will be quantified as the total number of servings of FV acquired by the household, with FV servings defined by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED).

  4 weeks

• Determine if a Smart Intervention to Reduce Food Waste and Replace Less Healthy Foods With FV Significantly Increases FV Acquisition Compared to Pre-intervention Baseline.

  We will test if a smart intervention to reduce food waste and replace less healthy foods with FV significantly increases FV acquisition over 4 weeks. The intervention includes free provision of FV. FV acquisition will be measured with the Foodlmage app. FV acquisition will be quantified as the total number of servings of FV acquired by the household, with FV servings defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED).

  4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Food Waste Intervention Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This group will receive an intervention on food waste management and fruit and vegetable replacement to increase diet quality while avoiding an increase in calories. Both groups will obtain free fruit and vegetable boxes and will use the FoodImage app to record food acquisition (Shop), food prep (Prep), intake (Eat) and waste (Toss) for approximately 3 (24 hour) days; ideally including 1 weekend date.

Other: Smart Intervention for Food Waste Management and Replacing current diet with Fruits and Vegetables

Stress Management Control Group

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

This group will receive an intervention on Stress Management and will be intensity matched to the treatment group. Both groups will obtain free fruit and vegetable boxes and will use FoodImage to record food acquisition (Shop), food prep (Prep), intake (Eat) and waste (Toss) for approximately 3 (24 hour) days; ideally including 1 weekend date.

Other: Smart Intervention for Stress Management

Interventions

Smart Intervention for Food Waste Management and Replacing current diet with Fruits and Vegetables OTHER

Will receive a Smart Intervention on Food Waste Management and replacing less healthy foods with fruits and vegetables.

Also known as: Treatment Group

Food Waste Intervention Group

Smart Intervention for Stress Management OTHER

Will receive a Smart Intervention on stress management practices and strategies.

Also known as: Control Group

Stress Management Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 62 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Male or female, age 18-62 years
• Body mass index (BMI) 18.5 - 50 kg/m2, based on self-reported height and weight
• Ownership of an iPhone, which the participant is willing to use for the study
• Access to Apple ID, password, and email address and willing to use them in the course of the study
• Performs a majority of household food shopping and preparation
• If children are present in household, all children are between 6-18 years
• Able to meet the schedule demands for the study

You may not qualify if:

• Not able to use an iPhone
• Refusal or unable to use the smartphone app to collect data in free-living conditions
• Households that purchase groceries less than 1 time per week
• More than 2 children living in the household
• Pennington Biomedical Research Center employee
• Unwilling to sign consent to use web screener questions for data set and analysis.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Pennington Biomedical Research Center: lead
• Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans: collaborator
• Ohio State University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70806, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Fruit; Vegetables; Control Groups

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Food; Diet, Food, and Nutrition; Physiological Phenomena; Food and Beverages; Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Research Design; Methods

Limitations and Caveats

The planned statistical analysis for two primary outcomes, focused on fruit and vegetable acquisition, could not be completed. It was determined that the resolution of the data images was insufficient to accurately read numerical values and acquisition details. As a result, data extraction and encoding were not possible, affecting all records. The reported values for those two outcomes reflect only the number of participants from whom data was collected.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Corby Martin
• Organization: Pennington Biomedical Research Center

corby.martin@pbrc.edu

225-763-2585

Study Officials

• Corby K Martin, PhD

  Pennington Biomedical

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 9, 2021
• First Posted: September 30, 2021
• Study Start: August 23, 2021
• Primary Completion: November 23, 2022
• Study Completion: December 30, 2025
• Last Updated: August 13, 2025
• Results First Posted: August 13, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Locations

US (1)