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Testing the Feasibility and Impact of a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet Intervention on College Students
Sponsor: Appalachian State University
Summary
The goal of this pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and impacts of a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) vegan diet intervention for undergraduate university students randomly assigned, stratifying by sex and race/ethnicity, to one of two intervention groups (each with a distinct teaching-learning design, i.e., interactive (IA) versus lecture-based (LB)) and a control group. The main questions the researchers aimed to answer were: * Were the study procedures feasible and acceptable for the overall sample and were the intervention sessions, following a WFPB vegan diet, and the prospect of continuing this diet feasible and acceptable for the intervention participants? * Were there greater improvements in diet quality, WFPB vegan diet adherence, physical and mental health, and intrapersonal factor outcomes for the intervention group engaging in interactive learning compared to the intervention group learning through traditional lecture? And were there greater improvements in these outcomes for both intervention groups compared with the control group? The researchers compared the group outcome means for the two intervention groups against one another and those for the two intervention groups against those of the control group. Study participants completed two sets of measurements over the course of 6 weeks. * All participants completed online baseline and post-intervention surveys and in-person baseline and post-intervention biometric measurements. * Only the intervention group participants attended three 75-minute consecutive weekly intervention sessions to learn about different aspects of the WFPB vegan diet between the two sets of survey and biometric measurements.
Official title: Testing the Feasibility and Impact of a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet Intervention on College Students' Physical and Mental Health
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 25 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
39
Start Date
2023-03-27
Completion Date
2023-05-03
Last Updated
2026-10-29
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Interactive intervention group
This interactive intervention (IA) group participated in the following procedures: 1) completed online baseline and post-intervention surveys, 2) completed in-person baseline and post-intervention biometric measurements, and 3) attended one or more of three consecutive weekly 75-minute lunch and learn sessions, whole-food plant-based (WFPB) vegan educational sessions emphasizing group-based and individual active-learning strategies, e.g., meal-planning, goal-setting, goal-achievement reflection, and experiential learning. They also were given a link to a website with WFPB vegan resources and were invited and voluntarily participated in a 1-hour end-of-study focus group.
Lecture-based intervention
This lecture-based intervention (LB) group participated in the following procedures: 1) completed online baseline and post-intervention surveys, 2) completed in-person baseline and post-intervention biometric measurements, 3) attended one or more of three consecutive weekly 75-minute lunch and learn sessions, emphasizing traditional lecture-based learning and time for individual work and reflection, e.g., on meal-planning, goal-setting, goal-achievement reflection, as well as experiential learning. They also were given a link to a website with WFPB vegan resources and were invited and voluntarily participated in a 1-hour end-of-study focus group.
Locations (1)
Appalachian State University, Leon Levine Hall, Suite 532, 1179 State Farm Road, ASU Box 32151
Boone, North Carolina, United States