Trial reportAmerican journal of preventive medicine2014
Traffic-light labels and choice architecture: promoting healthy food choices.
Trial report in American journal of preventive medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 109 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
109 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Equity Effects of Dietary Nudging Field Experiments: Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- The effects of nudges on purchases, food choice, and energy intake or content of purchases in real-life food purchasing environments: a systematic review and evidence synthesis.Nutrition journal · 2020Pooled it
- Improving Cardiovascular Health through Nudging Healthier Food Choices: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- Environmental interventions to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and their effects on health.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Use and effectiveness of behavioural economics in interventions for lifestyle risk factors of non-communicable diseases: a systematic review with policy implications.Perspectives in public health · 2018Pooled it
- Nutritional labelling for healthier food or non-alcoholic drink purchasing and consumption.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Traffic Light Labels and Dietary Behavior Change: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Network spillover effects associated with the ChooseWell 365 workplace randomized controlled trial to promote healthy food choices.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Trial
- Workplace food purchases, dietary intake, and gut microbial metabolites in a secondary analysis of the ChooseWell 365 study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Comparison of Sales From Vending Machines With 4 Different Food and Beverage Messages: A Randomized Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Long-Term Effectiveness of a Multi-Strategy Choice Architecture Intervention in Increasing Healthy Food Choices of High-School Students From Online Canteens (Click & Crunch High Schools): Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Investigation of the 1-week effect of traffic light nutrition labeling on diet selection among Japanese university students: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2024Trial
- Employees' Baseline Food Choices and the Effect of a Workplace Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating: Secondary Analysis of the ChooseWell 365 Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2023Trial
- Effects of 4 Interpretive Front-of-Package Labeling Systems on Hypothetical Beverage and Snack Selections: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- The association of impulsivity with effects of the ChooseWell 365 workplace nudge intervention on diet and weight.Translational behavioral medicine · 2023Trial
- Designing a new physical activity calorie equivalent food label and comparing its effect on caloric choices to that of the traffic light label among mothers: a mixed-method study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Health Literacy, Numeracy, and Health Promotion: A Secondary Analysis of the Choosewell 365 Workplace Trial.American journal of preventive medicine · 2022Trial
49 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPreventing obesity requires maintenance of healthy eating behaviors over time. Food labels and strategies that increase visibility and convenience of healthy foods (choice architecture) promote healthier choices, but long-term effectiveness is unknown. PURPOSE: Assess effectiveness of traffic-light labeling and choice architecture cafeteria intervention over 24 months.
designLongitudinal pre-post cohort follow-up study between December 2009 and February 2012. Data were analyzed in 2012. SETTING/
participantsLarge hospital cafeteria with a mean of 6511 transactions daily. Cafeteria sales were analyzed for (1) all cafeteria customers and (2) a longitudinal cohort of 2285 hospital employees who used the cafeteria regularly.
interventionAfter a 3-month baseline period, cafeteria items were labeled green (healthy); yellow (less healthy); or red (unhealthy) and rearranged to make healthy items more accessible.
main outcome measuresProportion of cafeteria sales that were green or red during each 3-month period from baseline to 24 months. Changes in 12- and 24-month sales were compared to baseline for all transactions and transactions by the employee cohort.
resultsThe proportion of sales of red items decreased from 24% at baseline to 20% at 24 months (p<0.001), and green sales increased from 41% to 46% (p<0.001). Red beverages decreased from 26% of beverage sales at baseline to 17% at 24 months (p<0.001); green beverages increased from 52% to 60% (p<0.001). Similar patterns were observed for the cohort of employees, with the largest change for red beverages (23%-14%, p<0.001).
conclusionsA traffic-light and choice architecture cafeteria intervention resulted in sustained healthier choices over 2 years, suggesting that food environment interventions can promote long-term changes in population eating behaviors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.