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Healthy School Lunch Behavior and the Invisible Hand
Author(s) -
Wansink Brian,
Just David,
Payne Collin
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.44.3
Subject(s) - cafeteria , cash , debit card , payment , business , advertising , calorie , revenue , credit card , finance , medicine , pathology , endocrinology
Restricting the use of prepaid lunch accounts use may improve food selection without eliminating free choice. In a school lunch cafeteria, 166 students were allowed to purchase their lunch in one of three ways: 1) cash only, 2) cash and an unrestricted debit card, or 3) cash and a restricted debit card that could be used to purchase items marked as healthy. Those given restricted debit cards ate significantly fewer calories than those given the unrestricted card (p=0.045), and they consumed healthy foods (78.6%, p=0.000). Because this payment procedure still allowed students to use their own cash to purchase less healthy options, it did not unduly restrict dining options or reduce cafeteria revenue.