The Family Grocery Pilot: Optimal Defaults in Online Grocery Shopping Among Families

NCT05899634 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00007317
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 70
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The obesity epidemic continues to be a major public health concern, impacting nearly one-fifth of US children. One of the most robust predictors of childhood obesity risk is parental obesity and children who are overweight by age 5 are at increased risk for future obesity. A healthful diet is a significant part of preventing overweight and obesity and the home food environment can be a predictor of children's dietary intake. The goal of the proposed pilot study is to examine the feasibility and efficacy of a new family-based approach to early childhood obesity prevention, using optimal defaults in the form of pre-filled, default online grocery shopping carts to promote healthier grocery shopping among families with young children at risk for obesity, potentially influencing the home food environment and dietary intake.

Conditions

Obesity

Keywords

grocery shopping; online grocery shopping; obesity; behavioral economics; diet; children

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (9)

• Nutritional Quality of Purchases in First Intervention Week

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to quantify the number of foods purchased weekly for the household that correspond to Healthy Eating Index (HEI) food groups (e.g., fruits, dark green vegetables). These scores will be operationalized such that higher scores indicate more healthful food purchases aligning with HEI scoring.

  Intervention (Week 3)

• Nutritional Quality of Purchases in Second Intervention Week

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to quantify the number of foods purchased weekly for the household that correspond to HEI food groups (e.g., fruits, dark green vegetables). These scores will be operationalized such that higher scores indicate more healthful food purchases aligning with HEI scoring.

  Intervention (Week 4)

• Change in Nutritional Quality of Purchases

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to quantify the number of foods purchased weekly for the household that correspond to HEI food groups (e.g., fruits, dark green vegetables). These scores will be operationalized such that higher scores indicate more healthful food purchases aligning with HEI scoring.

  Baseline (Weeks 1 and 2) and Intervention (Weeks 3 and 4)

• Energy Purchased in First Intervention Week

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to calculate the total weekly calories purchased from target grocery stores.

  Intervention (Week 3)

• Energy Purchased in Second Intervention Week

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to calculate the total weekly calories purchased from target grocery stores.

  Intervention (Week 4)

• Change in Energy Purchased

  Receipt data from target grocery stores will be entered into nutrition software and used to calculate the total weekly calories purchased from all grocery stores.

  Baseline (Weeks 1 and 2) and Intervention (Weeks 3 and 4)

• Cost of Groceries in First Intervention Week

  Total weekly dollars spent on grocery purchases from submitted receipts from target grocery stores

  Intervention (week 3)

• Cost of Groceries in Second Intervention Week

  Total weekly dollars spent on grocery purchases from submitted receipts from target grocery stores

  Intervention (week 4)

• Change in Cost of Groceries

  Total weekly dollars spent on grocery purchases from submitted receipts from target grocery stores

  Baseline (Weeks 1 and 2) and Intervention (Weeks 3 and 4)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Nutritional Quality of Home Food Environment

  Intervention (Week 4)

• Meals and Meal Intake of Parent

  Intervention (Week 4)

• Meals and Meal Intake of Child

  Intervention (Week 4)

• Nutritional Quality of Child's Intake

  Intervention (Week 4)

Study Arms (2)

Group 1 - Recipes

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will receive healthy recipes (3 main meal + 1 snack/breakfast/lunch recipe per week of the two-week intervention).

Group 2 - Default

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive healthy recipes (3 main meal + 1 snack/breakfast/lunch recipe per week of the two-week intervention). In addition, in this group, participants' online grocery shopping carts will be pre-filled with ingredients corresponding to the provided recipes. They will be told that their cart has been filled with items that can be used to make recipes from the provided recipe cards, and that they can modify it as they like.

Behavioral: Defaults

Interventions

Defaults BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive healthy recipes (3 main meal + 1 snack/breakfast/lunch recipe per week of the two-week intervention). In addition, in this group, participants' online grocery shopping carts will be pre-filled with ingredients corresponding to the provided recipes. They will be told that their cart has been filled with items that can be used to make recipes from the provided recipe cards, and that they can modify it as they like.

Group 2 - Default

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participating parent/guardian must be at least 18 years old
• Must have a 2-to-5-year-old child in the household
• Must grocery shop online (via Instacart) from Tops, Wegmans, and/or Aldi stores at least 75% of the time
• Child must have at least one parent/guardian meeting criteria for overweight/obesity (BMI \>25)
• Must speak English

You may not qualify if:

• Parent/guardian is under 18 years of age
• Does not have at least one 2-to-5-year-old child living in the household
• Does not shop online at Tops, Wegmans, and/or Aldi stores at least 75% of the time
• Child does not have at least one parent/guardian meeting criteria for overweight/obesity
• Does not speak English
• Has dietary restrictions or preferences that would not allow them to reasonably partake in the study (i.e., they would not be willing or able to buy/eat many of the staple foods included in default carts/recipe cards)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• State University of New York at Buffalo: lead

Study Sites (1)

State University of New York at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Anzman-Frasca S, Goldsmith J, Calabro A, Gambino K, Epstein LH, Leone LA, Wallenhorst B, Wilding GE, Ferrante MJ. Effects of an optimal defaults grocery shopping intervention on household grocery purchases of families with young children. Appetite. 2026 Mar 1;218:108397. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.108397. Epub 2025 Nov 24.

  PMID: 41297859 DERIVED

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 Officials

• Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, PhD

  University at Buffalo

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Mackenzie J Ferrante, PhD

  University at Buffalo

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 1, 2023
• First Posted: June 12, 2023
• Study Start: June 14, 2023
• Primary Completion: August 30, 2024
• Study Completion: December 31, 2024
• Last Updated: August 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)