Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
University students account for 50% of the UK young adult population and dietary assessment of this population is crucial in understanding the dietary changes that may occur as they transition to university and adulthood. At this time, many students will leave home for the first time and become responsible for their dietary intake through food shopping and meal preparation. The limited body of evidence in this population group suggests that starting university may be associated with weight gain and the adoption of unhealthful dietary patterns however the extent of these changes may vary based on gender, cooking ability and grocery budget, to name a few. Furthermore, dietary guidance is not typically given to university students although evidence suggests that personalised nutrition advice based on an individual's habitual dietary intake could help to provide the education and support needed for individuals to adopt a healthier diet.
This student pilot study will test whether providing university students with eNutri personalised nutrition advice (intervention group) has a differential impact on diet quality in UK university students compared with those who do not receive any advice (control group) after a 4-week intervention period. 50 university students will use eNutri to record their dietary intake before being randomly allocated to the control or intervention group. After 4 weeks, both groups will repeat the eNutri food and drink questionnaire. Those in the intervention group will also be invited to complete a follow-up questionnaire after a further 8 weeks.
A minimum of 50 participants will be recruited from the University of Reading and University of Hertfordshire and will be asked to complete the eNutri food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at pre-baseline (week -4) to capture their non-term time diet. 4 weeks later, the participants will be asked to repeat the questionnaire to capture their usual term time diet. At this time point, participants will be randomly allocated by eNutri to either the personalised nutrition (PN) intervention or control group:
The study will last for 16 weeks with a 4-week intervention period:
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention group | Experimental | Those in the intervention group will receive eNutri PN advice after completing the eNutri FFQ at baseline only. At weeks 1 and 3 of the study, participants will also receive coaching emails which includes reminders of their PN advice, questions asking them to reflect on their goal progress (if any), and tips and recipes to help them follow the PN advice. |
|
| Control group | No Intervention | Those in the control group will not receive any PN advice from eNutri and hence, will not receive any coaching emails. They will only record their diet using the eNutri FFQ. |
| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eNutri personalised nutrition advice | Behavioral | eNutri is a web-based app that administers an FFQ and delivers PN advice to the user. The advice is generated from their responses in the FFQ and considers their sex and dietary restrictions (such as whether they eat meat) so the reports are unique to each participant. This report (referred to as a 'healthy eating report') will also include an interactive component, allowing the participant to reflect on the advice received and set personal healthy eating goals to motivate behaviour change. The messages presented in the report have been developed by the eNutri Team, including a registered dietitian and registered nutritionist and are in line with UK dietary guidelines (primarily the EatWell Guide). |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Diet quality score (DQS) | An 11-item eNutri DQS will be automatically calculated by eNutri after completing the FFQ. The eNutri DQS was developed for Northern European adults and quantifies diet quality (i.e. the healthiness of a diet). It is composed of 11 food and nutrient components that are summed to give an overall score, where higher scores reflect the healthiest diets based on adherence to dietary guidelines | Baseline |
| Diet quality score (DQS) | An 11-item eNutri DQS will be automatically calculated by eNutri after completing the FFQ. The eNutri DQS was developed for Northern European adults and quantifies diet quality (i.e. the healthiness of a diet). It is composed of 11 food and nutrient components that are summed to give an overall score, where higher scores reflect the healthiest diets based on adherence to dietary guidelines | Week 4 |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | Self-reported measurement of weight | Pre-baseline |
| Weight | Self-reported measurement of weight | Baseline |
Not provided
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Julie Lovegrove, Professor | Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, University of Reading | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Reading | Reading | Berkshire | RG6 6DZ | United Kingdom | ||
| University of Hertfordshire |
| PubMed Identifier | Type | Citation | Retractions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35468093 | Background | Zenun Franco R, Fallaize R, Weech M, Hwang F, Lovegrove JA. Effectiveness of Web-Based Personalized Nutrition Advice for Adults Using the eNutri Web App: Evidence From the EatWellUK Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2022 Apr 25;24(4):e29088. doi: 10.2196/29088. |
Not provided
Not provided
We plan to share anonymised individual participant data that underlie results in publications in a public repository. Sharing of IPD will be in line with the confidentiality and consent agreements. This may include:
Not provided
No later than the time of first publication and available indefinitely thereafter.
We plan for open access.
Not provided
Not provided
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D005247 | Feeding Behavior |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D001522 | Behavior, Animal |
| D001519 | Behavior |
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Due to the nature of the study, the participants and researchers will be unblinded. Although the participants will not be explicitly told which group they are in, they will become aware of their group after completing the eNutri FFQ at baseline. Those randomised to the intervention group will receive their eNutri PN advice and those randomised to the control group will not receive any PN advice from eNutri and therefore know which group they have been allocated to.
Not provided
|
| Weight | Self-reported measurement of weight | Week 4 |
| Height | Self-reported measurement of height | Pre-baseline |
| Height | Self-reported measurement of height | Baseline |
| Body mass index (BMI) | Automatically calculated by eNutri after providing self-reported weight and height | Pre-baseline |
| Body mass index (BMI) | Automatically calculated by eNutri after providing self-reported weight and height | Baseline |
| Body mass index (BMI) | Automatically calculated by eNutri after providing self-reported weight and height | Week 4 |
| eNutri Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) dietary intake data | eNutri includes a 157-item FFQ which participants will use to identify how often they typically ate/drank each item during the last 4 weeks (e.g. once a day, less than once a week, not in the last 4 weeks) then choose their typical portion size from a range of 7 photos/buttons. To increase the accuracy of the FFQ, some food/drink items have an extra question, such as the type of milk used on breakfast cereals/hot drinks or whether the food/drink item consumed was a reduced fat/sugar variety. The responses to the FFQ are used to automatically calculate the average intake in grams per day for each food item. | Pre-baseline (week -4) |
| eNutri Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) dietary intake data | eNutri includes a 157-item FFQ which participants will use to identify how often they typically ate/drank each item during the last 4 weeks (e.g. once a day, less than once a week, not in the last 4 weeks) then choose their typical portion size from a range of 7 photos/buttons. To increase the accuracy of the FFQ, some food/drink items have an extra question, such as the type of milk used on breakfast cereals/hot drinks or whether the food/drink item consumed was a reduced fat/sugar variety. The responses to the FFQ are used to automatically calculate the average intake in grams per day for each food item. | Baseline |
| eNutri Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) dietary intake data | eNutri includes a 157-item FFQ which participants will use to identify how often they typically ate/drank each item during the last 4 weeks (e.g. once a day, less than once a week, not in the last 4 weeks) then choose their typical portion size from a range of 7 photos/buttons. To increase the accuracy of the FFQ, some food/drink items have an extra question, such as the type of milk used on breakfast cereals/hot drinks or whether the food/drink item consumed was a reduced fat/sugar variety. The responses to the FFQ are used to automatically calculate the average intake in grams per day for each food item. | Week 4 |
| Individual DQS component scores, food group intakes (e.g. vegetables, wholegrains) and nutrient intakes (e.g. saturated fat, sodium) | Recorded via eNutri FFQ | Pre-baseline (Week -4) |
| Individual DQS component scores, food group intakes (e.g. vegetables, wholegrains) and nutrient intakes (e.g. saturated fat, sodium) | Recorded via eNutri FFQ | Baseline |
| Individual DQS component scores, food group intakes (e.g. vegetables, wholegrains) and nutrient intakes (e.g. saturated fat, sodium) | Recorded via eNutri FFQ | Week 4 |
| Usability of eNutri measured by the System Usability Scale (SUS) | The SUS is a 10-item questionnaire with 5 response options that range from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree and is a reliable tool for measuring usability. | Baseline |
| Participants motivation and perceived ability to make dietary changes | Measured through a short psychology questionnaire covering ability, opportunity, motivation, and knowledge | Pre-baseline (Week -4) |
| Participants motivation and perceived ability to make dietary changes | Measured through a short psychology questionnaire covering ability, opportunity, motivation, and knowledge | Baseline |
| Participants motivation and perceived ability to make dietary changes | Measured through a short psychology questionnaire covering ability, opportunity, motivation, and knowledge | Week 4 |
| Participant feedback on the dietary advice received from eNutri | Questionnaire covering how effective the dietary advice was at encouraging the participants to make healthy changes to their diet and whether they encountered any barriers (intervention group only). | Week 4 |
| Feedback on the longer-term impact of the dietary advice received from eNutri | A follow-up questionnaire provided at week 12 to determine whether there was a longer-term impact of the dietary advice received (intervention group only). | Week 12 |
| Hatfield |
| Hertfordshire |
| AL10 9EU |
| United Kingdom |