Cohort Study on Plant-based Diets (COPLANT Study)

Launched by GERMAN FEDERAL INSTITUTE FOR RISK ASSESSMENT · Mar 14, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The COPLANT study is a research project looking into the effects of different types of plant-based diets on health and well-being. It will involve about 6,000 participants from Germany and Austria, who will follow diets like vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, and omnivorous. Researchers want to understand how these diets influence various health factors, including risks for diabetes, heart disease, and bone health, as well as their social and environmental impacts. Participants will complete dietary surveys using a special app, undergo health examinations, provide blood and urine samples, and fill out questionnaires about their lifestyle and physical activity. Follow-up assessments will take place over the next 20 years.

To participate in this study, individuals must be between 18 and 69 years old, have been following their current diet for at least a year, and be willing to provide blood samples and answer questions. Pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as children of adult participants, can also join but with a shorter examination process. It's important that interested individuals can be contacted and are open to giving their consent to participate. This study aims to gather valuable insights that could help improve our understanding of plant-based diets and their effects on health.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • age between 18 and 69 years at recruitment (age-stratified recruitment in four age groups (18 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 50 to 69 years) which should be equally distributed across the four diets)
• • following their current diet for at least one year
• • health insured
• • are willing to have blood taken (adults)
• • are willing and able to complete questionnaires
• • only at Berlin, Jena, Giessen and Karlsruhe sites: pregnant and breastfeeding women were recruited (shortened examination programm)
• • only at the Regensburg, Heidelberg, Bonn and Vienna sites: are neither pregnant nor breastfeeding at the time of recruitment
• • only at Berlin and Karlsruhe sites: children of adult participants (shortened examination programm without collection of blood, urine, and stool)
• • are able to give informed consent to participate in the study
• • have given their consent to participate in the COPLANT study
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • who can no longer be contacted
• • who withdraw their consent to participate in the study