Pilot Trial to Test a Nutrition Application for Making Smart and Healthy Choices

Pilot Trial to Test a Nutrition Application for Making Smart and Healthy Choices When Purchasing Food in Grocery Stores

An innovative nutritional application (App) entitled "MyNutriCart" was developed to create a list of foods and beverages to help individuals make smart and healthy choices when purchasing foods at grocery stores based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This App was tested in a pilot trial to evaluate its feasibility, usability, and acceptability for making smart and healthy choices when purchasing food in grocery stores and test its effectiveness in improving food selection, dietary patterns, and weight status compared with the traditional nutritional counseling.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Diet Modification
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Smartphone Application; Behavioral: Traditional Nutritional Counseling

Detailed Description

An innovative nutritional application (App) entitled "MyNutriCart" was developed to create a list of foods and beverages to help individuals make smart and healthy choices when purchasing foods at grocery stores based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A pilot randomized clinical trial was done to test the effectiveness of this App on food selection and purchase, dietary patterns, and weight loss during two months of intervention. We also assessed feasibility, usability, satisfaction and acceptability of the App. A total of 138 overweight and obese adults aged 21-45 years old who own a Smartphone were invited to participate in this study. Participants were randomized into two groups; (1) the intervention group used the App, which generated a healthy grocery list to use when purchasing foods in in the supermarket; (2) the control group had a traditional intervention with a nutritionist. To assess the impact of the intervention on dietary patterns, participants completed three 24-hour dietary recalls, a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and provided grocery receipts at baseline and at the end of the study (8 weeks later). Weight and height were also performed before and after the intervention. Feasibility, usability, satisfaction, and acceptability of the nutrition App were assessed at the end of the study using a questionnaire.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 38
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936-5067
    • University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus (UPR-MSC)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• overweight/obese adults
• aged 21-45 years
• main household shopper (responsible for >50% of the household grocery shopping)
• shopping at a grocery store at least once a week
• owner of a smartphone (iPhone or Android) with internet access
• willingness to be randomized into one of the two groups.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Use of other apps
• Participating in weight loss programs
• Pregnant women
• Individuals with chronic health conditions
• Individuals with reported food allergies

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Smartphone Application; Participants will have access to a smartphone application that provides a healthy shopping list based on requirements, budget and discounts to improve dietary practices and weight	Behavioral: Smartphone Application; The smartphone Application generates a shopping list for participants, based on a low caloric diet (energy requirements minus 500 kcals), taking into consideration the Dietary Guidelines for Americans' recommendations and also considering the available budget for each shopping event and the weekly discounts from major supermarkets.
Active Comparator: Traditional Nutritional Counseling; Participants will participant in a face-to-face counseling session with a registered dietitian.	Behavioral: Traditional Nutritional Counseling; Participants will have a face-to-face counseling session with a registered dietitian, who will provide recommendations for a low caloric diet (energy requirements minus 500 kcals) using the food group sheets from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the frequency of food intake	A Food frequency questionnaire was completed by participants at baseline and end of study. It includes the frequency of consumption of the following food groups: fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, refined and whole grains, legumes, healthy proteins, red meats, cold cuts and cured meats, whole-fat and low-fat dairy products, 100% fruit juices, and sugar-sweetened beverages.	8 weeks
Change in food intake	Three 24-h recalls were completed by participants at baseline and end of study. The consumption of the following food groups was analyzed: fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, refined and whole grains, legumes, healthy proteins, red meats, cold cuts and cured meats, whole-fat and low-fat dairy products, 100% fruit juices, and sugar-sweetened beverages.	8 weeks
Change in foods selection	Grocery receipts were evaluated at baseline and end of study for changes in food purchase of the following food groups: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, 100% fruit juices, and sugar-sweetened beverages.	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in weight	Weight will be assessed at baseline and end of study	8 weeks
Feasibility	Participants completed a questionnaire with 3 questions about feasibility, in which they rated each item using a five point Liker scale ranging from strongly agree (5 points) to strongly disagree (1 point): (1) easiness to use the App; (2) easiness to learn how to use the App; and (3) easiness how to find information in the App.	8 weeks
Usability	Participants completed a questionnaire with 1 question about usability: times the App was used.	8 weeks
Satisfaction	Participants completed a questionnaire with 3 questions about their satisfaction with the App, in which they rated each item using a five point Liker scale ranging from strongly agree (5 points) to strongly disagree (1 point). These items were: (1) satisfaction with information provided; (2) likenesses of re-using the app; (3) overall likeness and rating of the App.	8 weeks
Acceptability	Participants completed a questionnaire with 3 questions about the acceptability of the App, in which they rated each item using a five point Liker scale ranging from strongly agree (5 points) to strongly disagree (1 point). These items were: (1) attractiveness of the App; (2) comfortable using the app; (3) overall likeness about the layout and screen of the App.	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Puerto Rico
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Cristina Palacios, PhD, Nutrition Program, School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 13, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 30, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 7, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 13, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 13, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2017
• Last Verified: March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: A4540515

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: No plan yet

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No