FOODLIT-Trial: Digital Behaviour Change Intervention to Improve Food Literacy Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Summary

Given that healthy food-related habits are protective of both malnutrition and multiple noncommunicable diseases (including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), and acknowledging that poor diets constitute a greater risk to mortality, it is essential to improve individuals' food-related knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Furthermore, the current public health context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for an adequate diet as a protective factor for one's global health.

In the ambit of the FOODLIT-PRO: Food Literacy Project (ref. SFRH/BD/128528/2017), a digital intervention to promote food literacy - that is, food-related knowledge, competencies, and behaviours - encompassing behavioural change strategies and psychological determinants (such as intention, planning, and self-efficacy) was developed.

With the online deliver of personalised evidence-based materials concerning food literacy, adult participants receive weekly challenges that promote their food-related knowledge (e.g., recognising food's origin and seasonality), competencies (e.g., as cooking and planning skills), and behaviours (e.g., tracking food intake, interpret nutritional labels). Matched with tailored behavioural change strategies (experimental group), both food literacy content and psychological aspects that relate to health behaviour are assessed weekly in order to evaluate the intervention's efficacy. Follow-ups at 3-, 6- and 9-months post intervention will be assessed.

Conditions

• Food Literacy
• Food Habits
• Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
• Eating Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Experimental Group

Evidence-based food-related national and international guidelines were (i) specifically arranged considering the Food Literacy Wheel (Rosas et al., 2021) and personalised materials contained these guidelines were designed, (ii) matched with tailored behaviour change techniques (BCT Taxonomy v1, by Michie et al., XXXX) that indicated how to develop/implement each competence/behaviour, and (iii) digitally delivered weekly. Psychological variables of the Health Action Process Approach model (HAPA; Schwarzer, 2008) were integrated in the intervention, to study potential food literacy's psychological determinants. Weekly introduction videos featuring the lead psychologist were made available. Participants' groups in WhatsApp were built to incentive experience-sharing. Food literacy domains and HAPA determinants were assessed weekly, post-intervention, and in follow-up moments 3-, 6- and 9-months after the intervention.

BEHAVIORAL

Comparison Group

Food-related guidelines were delivered in a single moment in the first week of the intervention, on their original format and referring their original source (national's and international's entities websites). There was not a thematic for each specific week. No weekly introduction videos or WhatsApp groups existed in this condition. Food literacy domains and HAPA determinants were assessed weekly, post-intervention, and in follow-up moments 3-, 6- and 9-months after the intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

  collaborator OTHER

• ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Isabel Leal, Ph.D. · ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-08-14

Primary Completion

2020-12-06

Completion

2021-09-06

Countries

• Portugal

Study Locations