The purpose of the first grant was to design, develop, and evaluate a prototype, public access, interactive information system (""""""""Nutrition for a Lifetime System"""""""" or NLS) for supermarkets which was sufficiently informative and motivational so as to promote shifts in food purchase patterns consistent with the National Cancer Institutes's (NCI's) dietary guideline. The NLS's design was based on a framework for media- based behavior change; the project was done in collaboration with a large supermarket chain, and it was possible to conduct true experiments in the super-market which included tracking of individual study participants' actual supermarket purchases. The studies, following the NCI's Phase III guidelines, demonstrated that the NLS could relatively reliably alter food purchases in accordance with NCI guidelines and that the NLS could effectively operate in the supermarket. Additionally, in an ongoing design and refinement process, the NLS's information and operation were improved. The proposed project will continue this Phase III work in three important ways. The NLS's content will be redesigned so that the NLS is useable by a very wide segment of the population, including individuals of lower literacy levels and/or lower SES. In addition, an incentive/motivation system using coupons contingently delivered to NLS users, where lower-fat and higher-fiber items are targeted, will be designed and evaluated. The coupon system should attract more users to the NLS, enhance impacts, and carefully evaluate a promotional strategy with some apparent commercial viability. After the redesign phase, experimental field studies will be conducted over about a two-year period in different supermarkets with shoppers from a wide range of literacy and SES levels. It is expected that with the redesign, development, and evaluation steps, the NLS will be effective in attracting a wide range of individuals who will make appropriate changes in their food purchases. If this is the case, the NLS could be an important stand-alone system in supermarkets or other settings, be used as one component in a larger-scale campaign, and serve as one exemplar of a new health information/service delivery modality.
| Anderson, E S; Winett, R A; Wojcik, J R et al. (2001) A computerized social cognitive intervention for nutrition behavior: direct and mediated effects on fat, fiber, fruits, and vegetables, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations among food shoppers. Ann Behav Med 23:88-100 |
| Anderson, E S; Winett, R A; Wojcik, J R (2000) Social-cognitive determinants of nutrition behavior among supermarket food shoppers: a structural equation analysis. Health Psychol 19:479-86 |
| Winett, R A; Wagner, J L; Moore, J F et al. (1991) An experimental evaluation of a prototype public access nutrition information system for supermarkets. Health Psychol 10:75-8 |
