Nutrition for a lifetime system: a multimedia system for altering food supermarket shoppers' purchases to meet nutritional guidelines

Abstract The Nutrition for a Lifetime System(NLS) is a multimedia, public-access system housed in a kiosk in supermarkets designed to help shoppers decrease fat and increase fiber and fruits and vegetables in their food purchases in order to meet nutritional guidelines. In the present study, the NLS was modified from previous versions so that users' time was decreased to about 3–5 min per week, primarily consisting of viewing 10 weekly segments which used prompts, modeling, and prescriptive content plus interactions revolving around coupon offerings and selections. Coupon offerings were tied to program content, users' prior selections, and a nutrition priority order and were person-, store-, and timelimited. A monitoring system involving study participants' shopping receipts and an extensive nutrition database was used to track participants' food purchases and their nutritional content throughout the intervention. Participants, recruited at the supermarket, represented a cross-section by age and socioeconomic status of shoppers. All participants completed a baseline period (no NLS use.) Participants were then randomly assigned to an experimental (NLS use, N =54) or control (no NLS use; N =51) condition. The study's results showed the NLS significantly reduced fat and increased fiber and produce in NLS participants' purchases, with some evidence for maintenance at follow-up.