Nutrition Labelling Education Program in Socioeconomically Vulnerable Areas

NCT07531849 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: USPN 2025-102
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Front-of-pack nutrition labels (FoPLs) have been adopted in many countries to help consumers rapidly assess the nutritional quality of foods and to encourage healthier choices. Among these schemes, interpretive systems such as Nutri-Score appear particularly promising, as their graphic design improves understanding and use compared with more complex or purely numerical formats. In France, where social inequalities in diet-related chronic diseases are pronounced, implementing and effectively using FoPLs is especially challenging in socioeconomically vulnerable areas. Seine-Saint-Denis, a department with a markedly higher prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases than the national average, offers a relevant setting to test prevention strategies embedded within routine care. The PEANUTS project is a quasi-experimental before-after interventional study conducted in primary care and hospital outpatient settings, with later extension to the social sector. It aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief, literacy-sensitive nutrition education program focused on on-pack nutrition information (Nutri-Score, nutrition facts panel, claims and marketing elements) on self-efficacy, food literacy and the nutritional quality of purchase intentions among adults living in vulnerable territories.

Conditions

Self-Efficacy; Food Choices; Understanding of Front-of-pack Labeling

Keywords

Nutrition education and prevention; Primary prevention; Educational program; Front of pack nutrition labelling

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Self-efficacy in choosing food products in the supermarket

  Measured through a series of 6 items rated on a 5 point Likert scale. The final score will range from 6 to 30 points. Higher scores mean higher self-efficacy

  Pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Nutritional quality of purchase intentions

  Pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up

• Food literacy

  Pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up

Study Arms (1)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The educational intervention consists of modular group sessions lasting 45-60 minutes, adapted to participants' initial profiles based on an inclusion questionnaire assessing food literacy and nutrition knowledge. After completion of this baseline assessment, participants are allocated to educational pathways (Group A and/or Group B) according to their initial knowledge profile, with distinct objectives for each pathway.

Behavioral: Peanuts

Interventions

Peanuts BEHAVIORAL

At the beginning of each session, facilitators perform a brief educational assessment to select the most appropriate level for the group, allowing flexible adaptation of content to heterogeneous literacy levels. Sessions systematically include two components: (1) an active discussion phase to convey key information, followed by (2) a practical "learning by doing" phase designed to foster autonomy in using nutrition labelling tools. Phase 1 (≈12 months) will take place in municipal primary care centers in Seine-Saint-Denis, and delivered by advanced practice nurses and dietitians (≥10 expected). During this phase, qualitative feedback (e.g. spontaneously raised questions, strategies used to manage group heterogeneity) will be collected to inform the training of non-expert facilitators. Phase 2 will extend implementation to social services and community-based organizations, where trained social workers and volunteers will deliver the same modular program, supporting capacity-building in

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Respondents must be aged 18
• No formal income criterion is applied; Participants are considered as low-income (justified by the fact that the study is conducted in an area known to be socioeconomically vulnerable).

You may not qualify if:

• Subjects who are homeless
• Subjects who depend exclusively on food aid (Subjects never engaging in grocery shopping)
• Subjects living outside of mainland France

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Paris 13: lead

Study Sites (1)

Université Sorbonne Paris Nord

Bobigny, 93000, France

RECRUITING

Central Study Contacts

Chantal Julia, MD, PhD

CONTACT

+33148388932; c.julia@eren.smbh.univ-paris13.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Nutrition

Model Details: Quasi-experimental single-group pre-post design with repeated measures at three time points (T0 pre-intervention, T1 immediately post-intervention, T2 at 1-month follow-up). The educational intervention consists of modular group sessions lasting 45-60 minutes, adapted to participants' initial profiles based on an inclusion questionnaire assessing food literacy and nutrition knowledge. After completion of this baseline assessment, participants are allocated to educational pathways (Group A and/or Group B) according to their initial knowledge profile, with distinct objectives for each pathway. For each pathway, facilitators use an intervention guide describing two levels of intensity (A1/A2 for Group A and B1/B2 for Group B) with specific learning objectives. At the beginning of each session, facilitators perform a brief educational assessment to select the most appropriate level for the group, allowing flexible adaptation of content to heterogeneous literacy levels.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 27, 2026
• First Posted: April 15, 2026
• Study Start: January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2029
• Last Updated: April 15, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations

FR (1)