Coaching and Individual Planning to Reduce Unhealthy Snacking: An intervention among employees

The present study is about changing unhealthy snacking habits using an implementation intention intervention among members from the general population. Although many people aim to change their bad habits such as unhealthy snacking, many people find it difficult to enact their good intentions. One strategy that is very promising, is forming implementation intentions. Implementation intentions are specific if-then plans that identify a critical stimulus triggering the unwanted habitual behaviour, and link this to an alternative desired response (such as: ‘If I am at home and I am feeling bored, then I will eat an apple!’). The first aim of the study is to investigate individual differences (e.g., demographics, motivation, habit strength, habit propensity, need for structure) that predict the success of changing unhealthy snacking habits using implementation intentions in a real-life setting. The second aim is to examine whether the habitual behaviour is more successfully changed in response to external cues (e.g., being at home) compared to internal cues (e.g., feeling bored) that are specified in the if-then plans. The study will be conducted among the employees of a large company. A digital diary is used to measure unhealthy snacking and its internal and external cues over a 5 week period. An implementation intention will be formed after the first (baseline) with the help of a personal coach using motivational interviewing. Several questionnaires and computer tasks will be assessed.

Firstly, it is hypothesized that participants will reduce their unhealthy snacking behavior over time. Secondly, it is expected that the success of the intervention is predicted by individual differences. Most importantly, it is expected that participants who have a stronger habit propensity will benefit more from implementation intention interventions. Other individual differences will also be examined. Finally, it is expected that the type of cue identified in the implementation intention will affect intervention success.

T1: baseline; T2: after 1 week; T3: after 5 weeks.

Healthyways program: A 5 week coaching program with 3 individual appointments with a coach, at the beginning, after the first week and at the end of the program. During the second appointment, participants will be coached to formulate a implementation intention targeting their personal unhealthy snacking situation with the use of motivational interviewing. Participants will keep a digital snack diary during the coaching period.