Using Reinforcement Schedules to Increase Fruit&Vegetable Intake, Reduce Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation

November 28, 2022 updated by: Mihai Niculescu, New Mexico State University

Using Reinforcement Schedules to Improve Carotenoid Levels, Reduce Fruit and Vegetable Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation in El Paso

Using small monetary rewards to reinforce healthy behaviors, such as the consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V), the investigators tested fixed and variable reinforcement schedules in three middle schools.

The investigators measured carotenoid levels, as a biomarker of F&V intake, and F&V waste over the intervention time frame. The investigators also tracked the school lunch participation rates over time.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1626

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
    • Texas
      • El Paso, Texas, United States, 79925
        • Ysleta Independent School District

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

11 years to 16 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • students attending three participating middle schools (Ysleta Independent School District)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • N/A

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: School 1
Behavioral: Variable (non-random) interval
Using Variable (Non-random) Interval Reinforcement Schedules to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Reduce Fruit and Vegetable Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation
Behavioral: Control
No intervention
Experimental: School 2
Behavioral: Control
No intervention
Behavioral: Variable (random) interval
Using Variable (Random) Interval Reinforcement Schedules to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Reduce Fruit and Vegetable Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation
Experimental: School 3
Behavioral: Variable (random) interval
Using Variable (Random) Interval Reinforcement Schedules to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Reduce Fruit and Vegetable Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation
Behavioral: Variable (random) interval with table tents
Using Variable (Random) Interval Reinforcement Schedules and Table Tents with Health-related Messages to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Reduce Fruit and Vegetable Waste, and Increase School Lunch Participation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in food waste
Time Frame: 24 weeks
Daily fruit, vegetable, and other food waste (in lbs)
24 weeks
Change in fruit and vegetable intake
Time Frame: 12 weeks
As measured by carotenoid level, a biomarker for total fruit and vegetable intake; measured before and after the intervention
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
School lunch participation rates
Time Frame: 32 weeks
Number of participants in the school lunch program
32 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

New Mexico State University

Collaborators

University of Texas
Paso del Norte Health Foundation
Brigham Young University
Ysleta Independent School District, El Paso

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mihai Niculescu, PhD, New Mexico State 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 (Actual)

September 14, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 6, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

May 6, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 27, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 28, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

December 1, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 1, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 28, 2022

Last Verified

November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 12335 & 12324

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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