Evaluation of the "Eat Less Meat" One-month Challenge

Evaluation of the Effect of the "Eat Less Meat" One-month Challenge on Meat Consumption Among French University Students

In a context where meat consumption should be dramatically reduced in western countries to improve both population and planet health, the "Eat Less Meat" one-month challenge is a new behavioural intervention that aims (i) to weaken meat consumption habit and (ii) to enhance intrinsic motivation to eat less meat to trigger long-term reduction in meat consumption. The present study focusses on the quantitative evaluation of the effect of this challenge on French university student's meat consumption.

Parallel two-arm randomized controlled trial with repeated measures (online questionnaires) pre-, during- and post-intervention. All the participants will be recruited to take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge for one month. Participants in the control group will take part in the challenge 4 months after the participants in the intervention group. Participants in both groups will complete the online questionnaires at the exact same time, i.e., pre-, during- and post-intervention measures will take place before the control group starts the challenge.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diet, Healthy; Food Habits
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: "Eat Less Meat" Challenge

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 366
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Dijon, France, 21000
    • Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI ≥ 18.5
• University student in 'Bourgogne Franche-Comté'
• Fluent in French
• Available email address
• Available Instagram profile

Exclusion Criteria:

• Vegetarian or vegan or pescetarian
• Pregnant/breastfeeding
• Iron deficiency

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: "Eat Less Meat" challenge; Participants take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge	Behavioral: "Eat Less Meat" Challenge; Participants will be able to choose their goal for the challenge for one month: (i) no meat, (ii) meat 3 times a week, (iii) meat 6 times a week (which will need to be lower than current consumption). The first day of the challenge, the participants will receive by email a cookbook and a starter kit with advices and motivational tips, then they will receive an email each week with more advices and motivational tips. Participants will be also asked to follow the Instagram account of the challenge during one month where (i) one post will be posted each day, (ii) engaging stories requiring interactions will be posted regularly, (iii) participants can ask their questions to the research team, (iv) participants can interact with each other's. The Instagram posts will cover three main topics: (i) knowledge about meat and its impact on health and environment, (ii) tips for meat-free cooking, (iii) social/contextual pressure to eat meat and how to avoid it.
Other: "Eat Less Meat" challenge later; Participants take part in the "Eat Less Meat" challenge 4 months after the participants in the experimental arm, i.e., after all measures completion	Behavioral: "Eat Less Meat" Challenge; Participants will be able to choose their goal for the challenge for one month: (i) no meat, (ii) meat 3 times a week, (iii) meat 6 times a week (which will need to be lower than current consumption). The first day of the challenge, the participants will receive by email a cookbook and a starter kit with advices and motivational tips, then they will receive an email each week with more advices and motivational tips. Participants will be also asked to follow the Instagram account of the challenge during one month where (i) one post will be posted each day, (ii) engaging stories requiring interactions will be posted regularly, (iii) participants can ask their questions to the research team, (iv) participants can interact with each other's. The Instagram posts will cover three main topics: (i) knowledge about meat and its impact on health and environment, (ii) tips for meat-free cooking, (iii) social/contextual pressure to eat meat and how to avoid it.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline Meat consumption at 1 month (during intervention)	Meat daily intake (in grams) will be calculated by summing daily intake for all the items of the food frequency questionnaire that fall into the meat category.	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1
Change from Baseline Meat consumption at 4 months (3 months after intervention)	Meat daily intake (in grams) will be calculated by summing daily intake for all the items of the food frequency questionnaire that fall into the meat category.	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline Adherence to the French dietary guidelines at 1 month (during intervention)	Adherence to the French dietary guidelines will be evaluated using the simplified PNNS-GS2. The sPNNS-GS2 builds on the distinction between malus components (less healthy food groups which consumption should be limited, carrying a negative score, i.e., red meat, processed meat, sugary foods, sweet-tasting beverages, alcoholic beverages, salt) and bonus components (healthier food groups carrying a positive score, i.e., fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole-grain food, milk and dairy products, fish and seafood) reflecting established knowledge on the relationship between food groups consumption and non-communicable disease risk factors. sPNNS-GS2 will computed for each participant (range: -17 to 11.5, with higher scores indicating better adherence to the French dietary guidelines).	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1
Change from Baseline Adherence to the French dietary guidelines at 4 months (3 months after intervention)	Adherence to the French dietary guidelines will be evaluated using the simplified PNNS-GS2. The sPNNS-GS2 builds on the distinction between malus components (less healthy food groups which consumption should be limited, carrying a negative score, i.e., red meat, processed meat, sugary foods, sweet-tasting beverages, alcoholic beverages, salt) and bonus components (healthier food groups carrying a positive score, i.e., fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole-grain food, milk and dairy products, fish and seafood) reflecting established knowledge on the relationship between food groups consumption and non-communicable disease risk factors. sPNNS-GS2 will computed for each participant (range: -17 to 11.5, with higher scores indicating better adherence to the French dietary guidelines).	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4
Change from Baseline Greenhouse gas emissions at 1 month (during intervention)	Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) will be calculated by multiplying the daily intake of each food item by its associated GHGEs per kg	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 1
Change from Baseline Greenhouse gas emissions at 4 months (3 months after intervention)	Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) will be calculated by multiplying the daily intake of each food item by its associated GHGEs per kg	20 minutes, repeated measures (online food frequency questionnaire): baseline and month 4
Change from Baseline Meat consumption habit at 1 month (during intervention)	The Self-Report Habit Index will be computed by averaging ratings for all the 12 individual items from the Self-Report Habit questionnaire. Responses will be reported on a 6-point scale anchored by 'strongly disagree' and 'strongly agree' from 1 to 6. The scores will be coded such that high values indicated strong habits.	3 minutes, repeated measures (online Self-Report Habit questionnaire): baseline and month 1
Change from Baseline Meat consumption habit at 4 months (3 months after intervention)	The Self-Report Habit Index will be computed by averaging ratings for all the 12 individual items from the Self-Report Habit questionnaire. Responses will be reported on a 6-point scale anchored by 'strongly disagree' and 'strongly agree' from 1 to 6. The scores will be coded such that high values indicated strong habits.	3 minutes, repeated measures (online Self-Report Habit questionnaire): baseline and month 4
Change from Baseline Food choice motives at 1 month (during intervention)	The food choice questionnaire (FCQ) includes 30 items and 10 subscales: health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, price, weight control, familiarity, ethical concern and animal welfare. Answers to each item will range from 1 to 4: 1 = Not at all important; 2 = A little important; 3 = Moderately important; 4 = Very important. A score for each motive will be computed by averaging ratings for the three individual items in each of the ten subscales, higher scores indicating higher importance.	5 minutes, repeated measures (online food choice motives questionnaire): baseline and month 1
Change from Baseline Food choice motives at 4 months (3 months after intervention)	The food choice questionnaire (FCQ) includes 30 items and 10 subscales: health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, price, weight control, familiarity, ethical concern and animal welfare. Answers to each item will range from 1 to 4: 1 = Not at all important; 2 = A little important; 3 = Moderately important; 4 = Very important. A score for each motive will be computed by averaging ratings for the three individual items in each of the ten subscales, higher scores indicating higher importance.	5 minutes, repeated measures (online food choice motives questionnaire): baseline and month 4

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lucile Marty, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): June 18, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 30, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 29, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: diet; nutritional quality; meat reduction; environmental impact
• Other Study ID Numbers: EIPH0154

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Share on Open Science Framework
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Before data collection, indefinitely
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Open website
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP

Study Data/Documents

1. Study Protocol
2. Statistical Analysis Plan
3. Individual Participant Data Set

Drug and device information, study documents

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