Pre-Screening Survey - Processed and Less Processed Food Feeding Study

  This is a pre-screening eligibility survey for our Young Adults Eating Habits study, focused on processed and less processed foods.  This survey will help us determine if you are potentially eligible to participate in this study. Following the completion of this survey, we will contact you with the next steps. If you meet the criteria for this pre-screening survey, we will send you an informed consent document which outlines details of the study. We will go through the consent form in detail at the first visit before any additional eligibility testing is conducted. To confirm if you meet the criteria for this study through additional in-person testing, we will invite you to come to our lab on the Virginia Tech campus.

  Briefly, the full study consists of two 2-week periods of controlled feeding. That means you only consume the foods and beverages that we provide for you and we cannot accommodate special diets/diet restrictions as the diets are standardized for all participants. You will come to the lab in Wallace Hall on the VT Blacksburg campus each morning for breakfast and take your cooler of food for the day on a daily basis (Monday-Saturday) for the duration of each feeding period. On Saturdays, you will take a cooler for the next 48 hours. You will receive both a diet high in processed foods and a diet with less processed foods. The diets will be matched in terms of the nutrients they contain (e.g., carbohydrate, fiber, sugars, fats, protein). Diet groups will be blinded - neither you or the researchers (besides the study coordinator) will know which diet you are receiving. At the beginning and end of each 2-week period, you will complete a series of imaging scans of your brain, called a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) test, at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke, VA. This is to help us understand the behavioral and neural networks impacted by the consumption of processed or less processed foods. You will be provided with an image and 3D printed scaled model of your brain following the completion of the study.  In addition to receiving all of your meals and information regarding your health, you will be given $400 compensation for completing all study visits. Additional test procedures over the course of the study include measures of your lean body mass and body fat percent (by BIA, bioelectrical impedance analysis), questionnaires, cognitive function tests, and test meals and snacks. We will also evaluate your usual diet and physical activity levels. 

  Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. There are no foreseeable risks associated with completing this survey. However, if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions, you can withdraw from the survey at any point.

  Your survey responses will be strictly confidential and data from this research will only be shared with the project director and study coordinator. Your information will be coded and will remain confidential. If you have questions at any time about the survey or the procedures, you may contact Dr. Elaina Marinik at 540-231-0923 or by email at emarinik@vt.edu or Dr. Brenda Davy at 540-231-6784 or at bdavy@vt.edu .

  Thank you very much for your time and interest in our research. Please start with the survey now by clicking on the "Start" button below.