Effects of nutrition information nudges on nutrient density and food decisions in university students utilizing on-campus food pantry services: a randomized controlled study

University students often adopt eating habits that could increase their risk for chronic diseases. Further, students that experience food insecurity appear to be at greater risk for undesirable eating pattersn. Research indicates that nutrition interventions may improve health outcomes in university students. However, it is currently unknown if nutrition information nudges can favorable impact health outcomes in university students receiving services from an on-campus food pantry. This novel, parallel arm, randomized controlled study was designed to examine the effects of nutritious recipe cards on nutrient density and food decisions in students receiving services from Cardinal Kitchen, Ball State University's on-campus food pantry. Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study. Participants completed a screening survey that included demographic questions and the pre-test question. Participants that met eligibility were randomized to the intervention (INV) or control (CON) group. The INV group was presented with nutrition information nudges (i.e., nutritious recipe cards) before answering the post-test question while the CON group did not receive the recipe cards. The INV and CON study surveys also included two validated surveys, the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire-Revised (GNKQ-R) and the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants - Shortened Version (REAP-S) to measure baseline nutrition knowledge and diet quality, potential covariates. It was hypothesized that the intervention would improve nutrient density of food decisions. After adjusting for covariates (i.e., GNKQ and REAP-S) the results of this study found that there was no statistically significant difference between means of the pre-intervention nutrient density and post-intervention nutrient density (p =.55). While the results of this study should be considered with caution due to the limited sample size, further research should be conducted to see if college students experiencing food insecurity and utlilizing campus food pantries can be encouraged to shoose more nutritious food items by implementing nutrition nudges.