FoodImage: Evaluating Household Food Behavior With a Smartphone App

Sponsor

Pennington Biomedical Research Center (Other)

Overall Status

Active, not recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT03309306

Collaborator

Ohio State University (Other)

Enrollment

Location

Arms

53.2

Anticipated Duration (Months)

0.8

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the use of a smartphone app as a way to measure food waste.

Investigators propose to improve the accuracy and convenience of household food waste measurement so that consumer food waste program evaluations yield more power, less bias, less measurement error, and greater representation of targeted populations.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Food Habits	Other: Natural Environment/Stress Management Behavioral: Natural Environment/Reduce Food Waste	N/A

Detailed Description

Investigators will improve measurement via the development of the FoodImage smartphone app, a technology leveraging the investigators' expertise in creating and deploying apps to measure food intake and deliver nutritional interventions in free-living household conditions. Investigators will validate the app against weighed waste in a controlled laboratory setting.

The study will yield an app ready for future study deployment while analyses of the data will inform rapidly evolving policy discussions concerning optimal approaches to reduce food waste. These outcomes align with program priorities to understand the economics of food waste and to use behavioral economics to address consumption behavior.

Specific objectives include:

Development of FoodImage, a smartphone app that measures household food waste and food-waste-related behaviors,
Assess differences in the accuracy and time burden of measurements taken with the FoodImage app versus current household food waste measurement approaches (a pen-and-paper diary)
Use the FoodImage app in a pilot randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of reducing household food waste through behavioral nudges in the form of personalized feedback about food waste levels and household-specific reduction goals.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

44 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Intervention Model Description:

A subset of subjects will complete Phase I, which is the lab-based portion of the study, prior to the RCT.A subset of subjects will complete Phase I, which is the lab-based portion of the study, prior to the RCT.

Masking:

Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Primary Purpose:

Other

Official Title:

Evaluating Household Food Behavior With a Smartphone App

Actual Study Start Date :

Apr 26, 2018

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Sep 7, 2018

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Oct 1, 2022

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
No Intervention: Phase 1: Lab Testing (Visit 1, Day 0) Participants will test the FoodImage App and Pen-and-paper Records with in a Laboratory Kitchen. Participants will use the FoodImage app and food records to measure food waste during simulated shopping trip and kitchen clean-out. Measurements will be collected by participants with both methods while lab personnel directly weigh foods to provide the criterion value.
Active Comparator: Phase 2: RCT Stress Management Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges in free-living conditions. Participants will capture baseline data for 4-7 days. After a 1-week break, participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also receive information on stress management	Other: Natural Environment/Stress Management Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges in free-living conditions. Participants will capture baseline data for 4-7 days. After a 1-week break, participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also receive information on stress management
Experimental: Phase 2: RCT Food Waste Reduction Phase 2 will occur in participants' natural environment (free-living conditions). Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges. Participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also be provided with the following: Feedback on the amount of food waste their household created during the first week, A goal to reduce the next week's food waste by 20% or more, and Tips on how to reduce household food waste adapted from current consumer campaigns	Behavioral: Natural Environment/Reduce Food Waste Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges in free-living conditions. Participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also be provided with the following: Feedback on the amount of food waste their household created during the first week, A goal to reduce the next week's food waste by 20% or more, and Tips on how to reduce household food waste adapted from current consumer campaigns

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

No Intervention: Phase 1: Lab Testing (Visit 1, Day 0)

Participants will test the FoodImage App and Pen-and-paper Records with in a Laboratory Kitchen. Participants will use the FoodImage app and food records to measure food waste during simulated shopping trip and kitchen clean-out. Measurements will be collected by participants with both methods while lab personnel directly weigh foods to provide the criterion value.

Active Comparator: Phase 2: RCT Stress Management

Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges in free-living conditions. Participants will capture baseline data for 4-7 days. After a 1-week break, participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also receive information on stress management

Other: Natural Environment/Stress Management

Experimental: Phase 2: RCT Food Waste Reduction

Phase 2 will occur in participants' natural environment (free-living conditions). Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges. Participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also be provided with the following: Feedback on the amount of food waste their household created during the first week, A goal to reduce the next week's food waste by 20% or more, and Tips on how to reduce household food waste adapted from current consumer campaigns

Behavioral: Natural Environment/Reduce Food Waste

Participants will use the FoodImage app to capture data on food purchases, food waste that occurs during food preparation, food waste that is present after eating, and food waste from food purges in free-living conditions. Participants will use the app to record food waste for approximately 4-7 days over the subsequent week. They will also be provided with the following: Feedback on the amount of food waste their household created during the first week, A goal to reduce the next week's food waste by 20% or more, and Tips on how to reduce household food waste adapted from current consumer campaigns

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Phase 1: Food waste error [Lab Test, average of 4 hours at Visit 1]
Determining if the error from the FoodImage app is smaller than error from the pen-and-paper records.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Phase 2: Weight of all household waste [Baseline to Day 14]
Difference in change in total weight of all sources of household food waste.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

age 18-65 years
body mass index 18.5 - 50 kg/m2, based on self-reported height and weight
Shops for groceries
Conducts some of the food shopping and food preparation for their household
Be willing to do food shopping for the study (if necessary)
Have an iPhone and an operable Apple ID, password, and email address and is willing to use these to collect data during the study, acknowledging that data usage, and associated charges, are a result of study participation
Be willing to complete all study procedures corresponding to their randomization group

Exclusion Criteria:

In addition to those who do not meet inclusion criteria, subjects who meet any of the following criteria will be excluded from enrollment:

Persons who are severely immune compromised
Persons who are pregnant, as assessed by self-report
Pennington employee

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Pennington Biomedical Research Center	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	United States	70808

Sponsors and Collaborators

Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Ohio State University

Investigators

Principal Investigator: Corby K Martin, Ph.D., Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Study Documents (Full-Text)

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

Corby K. Martin, Principal Investigator, Pennington Biomedical Research Center

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT03309306

Other Study ID Numbers:

PBRC 2017-042

First Posted:

Oct 13, 2017

Last Update Posted:

Nov 11, 2021

Last Verified:

Nov 1, 2021

Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:

Plan to Share IPD:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Nov 11, 2021