A Food Pantry Nutrition Education Program RCT: Food Choices and Diet-Quality

Purpose: Food pantries have provided nutrition education to promote healthy food choices with mixed outcomes. This study assessed the impact of Guided Stars food quality rating system to promote healthy food choices among food pantry clients. Design: Randomized parallel-group study with balanced randomization. Setting: A client-choice food pantry in a midwestern city. Subjects: 613 food pantry clients. Intervention: Clients were randomly assigned to a one-time treatment group (n = 330) where they received a nutrition information sheet with pantry foods ranked using the Guided Starts rating system, or a control group (n = 299) that did not receive this information. Measure(s): Healthy food selection; food selection quality measured by a Healthy Index. Analysis: Multiple linear regression models to estimate the effect of the intervention on the food choices of the food pantry client, accounting for potential confounders. Results: Results showed a decrease (−.021, P <.05) in the selection of lower nutrition-rated food items, particularly among men. Conclusion: Food-labeling nutrition education strategies could help promote healthy food choices at food pantries, especially among future-biased clients. However, an information-based intervention alone may not be enough to alter food choices in low-income populations.