Mobile Goal-setting Intervention to Improve Vegetable Intake Among Young College Students

Effectiveness of Self-Monitoring and Goal Setting on Improving Consumption of Red/Orange Vegetables Among Undergraduate Students: A Pre-Posttest Experiment

This study used a two-group pre-posttest experimental design. After completing a background survey, participants used their smartphones to uploaded photos and/or descriptions of their meals to an online platform for three days. In addition, those in the intervention group were asked to use a checklist to count the number of times they ate red/orange vegetables and to set a goal to eat one more time the next day. The dependent variable was a measure of eating behavior-an estimate (number of times/day) of red/orange vegetable intake on that day based on review of uploaded photos and descriptions. Those in the intervention group, who were asked to use a checklist to count their red/orange vegetable intake and set a goal to eat one more the next day, improved their vegetable intake.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diet, Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mobile goal-setting intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 281
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Indiana
    • Bloomington, Indiana, United States, 47405
      • Indiana University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 23 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18 and above
• Undergraduate at the university
• Currently lived in a dorm
• Owned a smartphone
• Had internet access on their smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

• Already part of a study to change their eating behaviors

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental Group; The experimental group were asked to count the number of times they ate any red/orange vegetables and set a goal to eat one more time the next day over three days.	Behavioral: Mobile goal-setting intervention; This intervention applied two constructs from the goal setting theory-self-monitoring and goal setting. Briefly, all participants were asked to take photos of all their meals and upload them with descriptions to an online platform. The participants in the experimental group were taken through two additional processes that represented these two constructs. Self-monitoring was operationalized by asking those in the experimental group to count the number of times they ate red/orange vegetables using a counting checklist. Goal setting was operationalized as asking them to set a goal to eat red/orange vegetables one more time tomorrow.
No Intervention: Control Group; The control group uploaded photos and/or descriptions of their meals only. They did not self-monitor their vegetable intake nor set a goal to eat more.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Red/orange vegetable intake	Number of times participants consumed red/orange vegetables	Three days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Indiana University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Susan E Middlestadt, PhD, Indiana University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 18, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 25, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): April 25, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 23, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 24, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 27, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 24, 2020
• Last Verified: January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 1711199200

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: Participant data can be shared upon reasonable request. There are identifiers with respect to photos and descriptions provided by participants in the study and these are confidential.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data is stored in a secured storage device with the Principal Investigator. The data without any identifiers can only be shared upon a reasonable request.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Interested individuals should contact the Principal Investigator via email.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: Study Protocol; Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP); Informed Consent Form (ICF)

Drug and device information, study documents

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