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Serving vegetables in multiple locations in school lunchrooms can lead to increased vegetable selection (808.10)
Author(s) -
Hanks Andrew,
Just David,
Wansink Brian
Publication year - 2014
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.28.1_supplement.808.10
Subject(s) - consumption (sociology) , selection (genetic algorithm) , toxicology , environmental health , food science , geography , medicine , biology , computer science , sociology , social science , artificial intelligence
Objective: To determine the impact on selection and consumption of fruits and vegetables in school cafeterias when fruits and vegetables are served both on the hot lunch line and in a separate location, such as a salad bar. Methods: Twenty‐five schools of all age levels agreed to participate in the study. Of these schools, 5 served fruits and vegetables both on the hot lunch line. Three of these schools were elementary schools, and two were middle schools. Fruit and vegetable selection and consumption data were collected on four different days in all the schools. Standard t‐tests were used to compare differences in fruit and vegetable selection and consumption. Results: In cafeterias where fruits and vegetables were served in two separate locations, students took 20% more hot vegetables (p=0.015) and 41% more cold vegetables (p<0.001), such as salad. Fresh fruit selection, on the other hand, decreased by 9% (p=0.023). Conclusions: More is not always better. In school lunchrooms, serving vegetables in more than one location tends to increase the number of servings of vegetables, both hot and cold, that students take. Yet, when fruits are served in two locations, students take fewer servings of fresh fruits, possibly because they gravitate towards vegetables. Yet, there are methods available for gently nudging students to take more of the healthy items they are offered, regardless of the number of locations in which they are served.