Recruiting

Healthy Food Policies

Sponsor:

University of Pennsylvania

Code:

NCT07422922

Conditions

Chronic Disease

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Suite of healthy food policies

Study Details

Brief summary:

Unhealthy diets significantly contribute to major preventable chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and stroke, which disproportionally impact racial/ethnic minority groups and those with lower income \[1-3\]. Although taxes and warning labels targeting sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) have been successful at shifting behavior \[4-7\], there are many other ultra-processed food products that contribute to unhealthy diets \[8\]. What is less well-known is whether a suite of healthy food policies that are expanded to target a range of ultra-processed foods can shift dietary choices and intake in meaningful ways. Our research team's long-term goal is to identify and understand the degree to which combinations of healthy food policies can improve nutrition security and reduce nutrition-related diseases.

Conditions

Chronic Disease

Study ID

NCT07422922

Start date

Feb 25, 2026

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Apr 21, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr 21, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • ≥18 years old
  • Not currently eligible for or participating in SNAP or another government program that automatically qualifies the person for SNAP (e.g., WIC, TANF)
  • Meets the following income eligibility requirements:

For participants living in the Houston or San Antonio areas, their household income must be greater than 165% of the federal poverty level, but less than the Texas state median household income (based on the 2023 American Community Survey) for their household size \[11\].

For participants living in the Philadelphia area, their income must be greater than 200% of the federal poverty level, but less than the Pennsylvania state median household income (based on the 2023 American Community Survey) for their household size \[11\].

  • Reports consuming food from McDonald's or a similar fast-food chain at least once a month
  • Does most of the grocery shopping for the household
  • Can adhere to the study schedule (e.g., receive a lunch on a Wednesday)
  • Has regular internet access
  • Has a smart phone that can take pictures
  • Resident of Houston, TX, San Antonio, TX or Philadelphia, PA or the surrounding areas and plans to be there for the next six weeks
  • Household size of six or fewer people
  • Have an address eligible for receiving Grubhub+ and Walmart+ deliveries

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Does not meet all of the inclusion criteria
  • Cognitive impairment; per PIs discretion
  • Participant is under 18 years old
  • Does not speak English or Spanish

Study Design

Enrollment

300 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

no intervention: Control

experimental: Intervention

Interventions

Suite of healthy food policies

A suite of healthy food policies in an online restaurant and grocery store including ultra-processed food and beverage taxes, front-of-pack nutrition labeling, and healthy check out regulations that restrict the promotion of ultra-processed products on the checkout pages.

Primary outcome measure

  • Average kcals purchased per participant per day from unhealthy ultra-processed food products that are targeted by our suite of healthy food policies [ Time Frame: Change between baseline and Weeks 2-4 (Aim 1) and Weeks 5-6 (Aim 3) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Julianna Catania, MPH

(215) 839-9689julianna.catania@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Eva Fabian, MPH

Eva.Fabian@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Locations

University of Pennsylvania

Recruiting

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104

Contacts

Julianna Catania, MPH

609-385-8219julianna.catania@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Eva Fabian, MPH

Eva.Fabian@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Principal Investigator:

Christina Roberto, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Last update posted

May 18, 2026

Last verified

May, 2026

Keywords

  • chronic disease
  • behavioral economics
  • warning label
  • nutrition
  • ultra-processed food
  • unhealthy food
  • sugar-sweetened beverage
  • advertisement restriction
  • nutrition policy

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Pennsylvania on 2026-05-18.