FoodSEqual - Food study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of dietary intake in disadvantaged communities using nutritional biomarkers and dietary assessment
IRAS ID
313798
Contact name
Gunter G C Kuhnle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Reading
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
51255, CPMS
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
The FoodSEqual project is part of a five-year national consortium project led by the University of Reading and involves academics from Plymouth, Sussex, Kent and Cranfield Universities. It is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF). The vision of the FoodSEqual project is to provide citizens of socio-culturally diverse disadvantaged communities with choice and agency over the food they consume by co-developing new products, new supply chains and new policy frameworks that deliver affordable, attractive, healthy, and sustainable diet. The FoodSEqual Health project is a follow-on project to investigate associations between diet, health, and food affordability in the context of the FoodSEqual project.
Diet is an important modifiable risk factor for many chronic diseases, but there is a paucity of dietary data from disadvantaged communities. The last Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (LIDNS) was conducted more than a decade ago and disadvantaged communities are known to be under-represented in other national surveys.
The aim of the study is to investigate diet and factors contributing to dietary choice in a sample of socio-culturally diverse disadvantaged communities using a combination of dietary intake assessment methods, including nutritional biomarkers.
We will recruit participants from culturally diverse disadvantaged communities, primarily in Reading, Plymouth, Brighton, Tower Hamlets, but we will be open to include other sites as well.
This study has two arms: in the cross-sectional arm, we obtain basic self-reported data on wellbeing, lifestyle, food affordability and diet, using a ‘food-chat’ approach. We will also collect spot urine and hair samples for further dietary assessment biomarkers. In the longitudinal arm, we will repeat the diet and health assessment after 6, 12 and 18 months.
The findings will provide a better understanding of the relationship between diet and health status in disadvantaged communities and will also allow to understand the impact of the FoodSEqual project.REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NE/0128
Date of REC Opinion
13 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion