Impact of a farmers' market nutrition coupon programme on diet quality and psychosocial well-being among low-income adults: protocol for a randomised controlled trial and a longitudinal qualitative investigation

Michelle L Aktary, Stephanie Caron-Roy, Tolulope Sajobi, Heather O'Hara, Peter Leblanc, Sharlette Dunn, Gavin R McCormack, Dianne Timmins, Kylie Ball, Shauna Downs, Leia M Minaker, Candace IJ Nykiforuk (+8 others)
2020 BMJ Open  
IntroductionLow-income populations have poorer diet quality and lower psychosocial well-being than their higher-income counterparts. These inequities increase the burden of chronic disease in low-income populations. Farmers' market subsidies may improve diet quality and psychosocial well-being among low-income populations. In Canada, the British Columbia (BC) Farmers' Market Nutrition Coupon Programme (FMNCP) aims to improve dietary patterns and health among low-income participants by providing
more » ... coupons to purchase healthy foods from farmers' markets. This study will assess the impact of the BC FMNCP on the diet quality and psychosocial well-being of low-income adults and explore mechanisms of programme impacts.Methods and analysisIn a parallel group randomised controlled trial, low-income adults will be randomised to an FMNCP intervention (n=132) or a no-intervention control group (n=132). The FMNCP group will receive 16 coupon sheets valued at CAD$21/sheet over 10–15 weeks to purchase fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat/poultry/fish, eggs, nuts and herbs at farmers' markets and will be invited to participate in nutrition skill-building activities. Overall diet quality (primary outcome), diet quality subscores, mental well-being, sense of community, food insecurity and malnutrition risk (secondary outcomes) will be assessed at baseline, immediately post-intervention and 16 weeks post-intervention. Dietary intake will be assessed using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Recall. Diet quality will be calculated using the Healthy Eating Index-2015. Repeated measures mixed-effect regression will assess differences in outcomes between groups from baseline to 16 weeks post-intervention. Furthermore, 25–30 participants will partake in semi-structured interviews during and 5 weeks after programme completion to explore participants' experiences with and perceived outcomes from the programme.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board, Rutgers University Ethics and Compliance, and University of Waterloo Office of Research Ethics. Findings will be disseminated through policy briefs, conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications.Trial registration numberNCT03952338.
doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035143 pmid:32371514 pmcid:PMC7228519 fatcat:5x5ulw6yurelvgz54ehvhqmcga