Understanding public attitudes towards healthy eating policies
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN15915360 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15915360 |
- Submission date
- 10/11/2020
- Registration date
- 16/11/2020
- Last edited
- 18/11/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Obesity rates are high and rising in the UK, and one route to tackling obesity is by the government implementing healthy eating policies. However, public support for healthy eating policies is low which can be a barrier to implementation. Recent research has suggested that if people receive evidence that a policy is effective, then they are more likely to support that policy, however, the best method of communicating complicated evidence is unclear.
The evidence for this study comes from a recent trial in a worksite cafeteria which shows that two healthy eating policies can reduce energy purchased by 11.5%. The current study aims to test two different methods of improving the communication of evidence. The methods tested will be visualising the evidence into an infographic and converting calorie information into its equivalent amount in a familiar food (analogising).
The aim of this study is to investigate whether visualising and analogising evidence can be more effective and changing people’s beliefs about policy effectiveness.
Who can participate?
Any person who is over the age of 16 and living in England can take part.
What does the study involve?
To take part in the study, participants complete an online survey.
At the start of the survey, participants see information about obesity and about two changes to the food environment that can reduce the number of calories people eat. The changes mentioned are replacing some higher calorie foods with lower calorie foods and reducing the portion sizes of some larger foods.
Participants will be split into five different groups, and each group will see different information:
1. Group 1 only sees written information about the current rates of obesity and a description of the two changes
2. Group 2 also sees written information about the current rates of obesity and a description of the two changes. They also see how effective the two changes were at reducing calorie intake
3. Group 3 also sees the same information as Group 2, however, the information is converted from writing into an infographic
4. Group 4 also sees the same written information as Group 2, however, they also see the effectiveness converted from calories into the equivalent amount of calories in a familiar food product: Mars bars
5. Group 5 also sees the same infographic as Group 3, however, this also contains the Mars bars conversion as in Group 4
After seeing these different forms of evidence, participants from all groups are given the same questionnaire. Participants are asked to rate how effective they think the changes were at reducing calorie intake, whether they support the changes being implemented, and whether the evidence was communicated clearly.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no foreseeable risks in taking part. Similarly, there are no specific benefits to taking part.
Where is the study run from?
The University of Cambridge (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From June 2020 to June 2021
Who is funding the study?
Wellcome Trust (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr James Reynolds
j.reynolds4@aston.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
East Forvie Building
Robinson Way
Cambridge
CB2 0SR
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-1536-1557 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 762569 |
| j.reynolds4@aston.ac.uk |
Public
East Forvie Building
Robinson Way
Cambridge
CB2 0SR
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 762569 |
|---|---|
| j.reynolds4@aston.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | A between-participants randomized online survey experiment |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Internet/virtual |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | ISRCTN15915360_PIS_11Nov20.pdf |
| Scientific title | Visualising and analogising evidence of policy effectiveness: a population-based survey experiment |
| Study hypothesis | 1.Communicating evidence of policy effectiveness increases its perceived effectiveness relative to not communicating evidence 2. Communicating evidence of policy effectiveness by visualising information has a larger impact on perceived effectiveness than presenting the same information using text alone 3. Communicating evidence of policy effectiveness using an analogy to translate the effect size has a larger impact on perceived effectiveness than presenting the same information without an analogy |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 29/10/2020, Cambridge Psychology Research Ethics Committee (School of the Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX; +44 (0)1223 766894; Cheryl.Torbett@admin.cam.ac.uk), ref: PRE.2020.102 |
| Condition | Inappropriate diet and eating habits, excess energy intake, healthy eating policies |
| Intervention | Participants will be randomised (1:1:1:1:1:1) into 5 different groups using the QuestionPro randomisation feature. All participants will complete an online survey, in which they will be presented with different information depending upon their intervention group. All five groups will receive the same background information about obesity in the UK and a brief description of two interventions. These interventions are availability (replacing some higher calorie food options with lower calorie food options in cafes and restaurants) and size (reducing the portion size of higher calorie food options in cafes and restaurants). Four of the five groups will receive further information. Group 1 (the control group) will be provided with no information on intervention effectiveness. Group 2 (the ‘assert and quantify’ group) will be provided with an additional sentence that asserts and quantifies the effectiveness of the two interventions. Group 3 (the ‘assert, quantify and visualise’ group) will be provided with the same information as Group 2, however this information will be integrated into an infographic and presented visually. Group 4 (the ‘assert, quantify and analogise’ group) will be provided with the same information as Group 2, however a further sentence will be added that translates the number of calories information into the equivalent amount food (Mars bars). Group 5 (the ‘assert, quantify, visualise and analogise’ group) will be provided with the same visualised information as Group 3 with the addition of the analogy used in Group 4. The study will be conducted using an online survey platform, called QuestionPro. Each group will have a single exposure to the intervention and will be able to view and read the information in the intervention for as long as they wish before moving on to the questions. The entire survey including the intervention exposure and questionnaire will last an estimated 5 minutes. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | 1. Perceived effectiveness of availability plus size interventions at reducing calorie intake measured as a composite variable using the mean of two items on a 7-point response scale at a single timepoint |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Perceived effectiveness of the interventions individually measured as a composite variable using the mean of two items on a 7-point response scale for each intervention at a single timepoint 2. Acceptability of interventions measured using a single item on a 7-point response scale for each intervention individually, and both together, at a single timepoint 3. Subjective comprehension of the interventions measured as a composite variable using the mean of two self-rated items on a 7-point response scale at a single timepoint 4. Recall of the intervention content measured from three possible correct answers from two questions (scored from 0-3) at a single timepoint |
| Overall study start date | 25/06/2020 |
| Overall study end date | 01/06/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | All |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | Approximately 4500 participants will be recruited by a research agency. |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Aged ≥16 years 2. Resident in England |
| Participant exclusion criteria | Does not meet inclusion criteria. |
| Recruitment start date | 06/12/2020 |
| Recruitment end date | 31/01/2021 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
East Forvie Building
Robinson Way
Cambridge
CB2 0SR
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
Trinity Lane
Cambridge
CB2 1TN
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 333543 |
|---|---|
| Research_Governance@medschl.cam.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.cam.ac.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/013meh722 |
Funders
Funder type
Research organisation
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
- Alternative name(s)
- Wellcome, WT
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/05/2021 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | The results of this research will be written up and submitted to a peer-reviewed, open access journal. The study protocol and statistical analysis plan will be uploaded to https://osf.io. |
| IPD sharing plan | The anonymised datasets, data dictionary, analysis code, materials, and protocol will be stored on multiple online repositorities: The University of Cambridge's repository and https://osf.io. The data will be stored for at least 20 years. Consent from participants for data archiving on these repositories will be obtained in the consent form. There will be no idenfiying information (such as participant IDs, IP addresses, names, or addresses). |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | 11/11/2020 | 16/11/2020 | No | Yes |
Additional files
- ISRCTN15915360_PIS_11Nov20.pdf
- Uploaded 16/11/2020
Editorial Notes
18/11/2021: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The primary contact email was changed.
2. The plain English summary was updated to reflect these changes.
30/11/2020: Internal review.
16/11/2020: The participant information sheet has been uploaded as an additional file.
13/11/2020: Trial’s existence confirmed by the University of Cambridge.
