Making Calories Count: Information Format and Food Choice

April 11, 2017 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

The purpose of the study is to better understand how individuals make decisions regarding the meals they order. Participants' ordering decisions at lunchtime at a chain restaurant will be recorded over several weeks to study ordering habits over time. Lunch menus will be provided by the study, and the menu format will vary the way in which information on caloric content is displayed.

The impact of different labeling formats on total calories in the chosen meal will be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

292

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Carnegie Mellon University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Customers of two chain restaurants

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to read a written menu

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Visual cue absent
Behavioral: Provide menu with no visual cue but with calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Behavioral: Provide menu with no visual cue and no calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Experimental: Calorie information present
Behavioral: Provide menu with no visual cue but with calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Behavioral: Provide menu with visual cue and calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Active Comparator: Calorie information absent
Behavioral: Provide menu with no visual cue and no calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Behavioral: Provide menu with visual cue but no calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Experimental: Visual cue present
Behavioral: Provide menu with visual cue and calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.
Behavioral: Provide menu with visual cue but no calorie information
Menu to be provided prior to placing the food order.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Calories chosen
Time Frame: One time only or 6 months
Total calories in food ordered for lunch
One time only or 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Weight change
Time Frame: 6 months
Half of the study participants will have the secondary outcome measure data collected and analyzed.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Julie Downs, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 28, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

May 3, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 11, 2017

Last Verified

April 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 812950
  • P30AG034546 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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