Evaluation of the "Eat Less Meat" One-month Challenge

NCT05752786 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: EIPH0154
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 366
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In a context where meat consumption should be dramatically reduced in western countries to improve both population and planet health, the "Eat Less Meat" one-month challenge is a new behavioural intervention that aims (i) to weaken meat consumption habit and (ii) to enhance intrinsic motivation to eat less meat to trigger long-term reduction in meat consumption. The present study focusses on the quantitative evaluation of the effect of this challenge on French university student's meat consumption. Parallel two-arm randomized controlled trial with repeated measures (online questionnaires) pre-, during- and post-intervention. All the participants will be recruited to take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge for one month. Participants in the control group will take part in the challenge 4 months after the participants in the intervention group. Participants in both groups will complete the online questionnaires at the exact same time, i.e., pre-, during- and post-intervention measures will take place before the control group starts the challenge.

Conditions

Diet, Healthy; Food Habits

Keywords

meat reduction; environmental impact; nutritional quality; diet

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change from Baseline Meat consumption at 1 month (during intervention)

  Meat daily intake (in grams) will be calculated by summing daily intake for all the items of the food frequency questionnaire that fall into the meat category.

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1

• Change from Baseline Meat consumption at 4 months (3 months after intervention)

  Meat daily intake (in grams) will be calculated by summing daily intake for all the items of the food frequency questionnaire that fall into the meat category.

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Change from Baseline Adherence to the French dietary guidelines at 1 month (during intervention)

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1

• Change from Baseline Adherence to the French dietary guidelines at 4 months (3 months after intervention)

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4

• Change from Baseline Greenhouse gas emissions at 1 month (during intervention)

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1

• Change from Baseline Greenhouse gas emissions at 4 months (3 months after intervention)

  20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4

• Change from Baseline Meat consumption habit at 1 month (during intervention)

  3 minutes, repeated measures (online Self-Report Habit questionnaire): baseline and month 1

Study Arms (2)

"Eat Less Meat" challenge

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge

Behavioral: "Eat Less Meat" Challenge

"Eat Less Meat" challenge later

OTHER

Participants take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge 4 months after the participants in the experimental arm, i.e., after all measures completion

Behavioral: "Eat Less Meat" Challenge

Interventions

"Eat Less Meat" Challenge BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be able to choose their goal for the challenge for one month: (i) no meat, (ii) meat 3 times a week, (iii) meat 6 times a week (which will need to be lower than current consumption). The first day of the challenge, the participants will receive by email a cookbook and a starter kit with advices and motivational tips, then they will receive an email each week with more advices and motivational tips. Participants will be also asked to follow the Instagram account of the challenge during one month where (i) one post will be posted each day, (ii) engaging stories requiring interactions will be posted regularly, (iii) participants can ask their questions to the research team, (iv) participants can interact with each other's. The Instagram posts will cover three main topics: (i) knowledge about meat and its impact on health and environment, (ii) tips for meat-free cooking, (iii) social/contextual pressure to eat meat and how to avoid it.

"Eat Less Meat" challenge; "Eat Less Meat" challenge later

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• BMI ≥ 18.5
• University student in 'Bourgogne Franche-Comté'
• Fluent in French
• Available email address
• Available Instagram profile

You may not qualify if:

• Vegetarian or vegan or pescetarian
• Pregnant/breastfeeding
• Iron deficiency

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement: lead

Study Sites (1)

Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation

Dijon, 21000, France

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Marty L, Biehlmann M, Louveau A, Poquet D, Robinson E. The "Eat Less Meat" one-month challenge: a randomized controlled trial of a meat reduction pledge intervention among French university students. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2025 Oct 27;22(1):131. doi: 10.1186/s12966-025-01831-7.

  PMID: 41146183 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior

Study Officials

• Lucile Marty

  Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2023
• First Posted: March 3, 2023
• Study Start: February 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2023
• Study Completion: June 18, 2023
• Last Updated: August 30, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP
• Time Frame: Before data collection, indefinitely
• Access Criteria: Open website

Locations

FR (1)