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Creating Healthy Food Interventions in Food Pantries: First and Separately Seen is Selected
Author(s) -
Wansink Brian,
Bhana Hiershenee
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.639.23
Subject(s) - healthy food , selection (genetic algorithm) , intervention (counseling) , environmental health , psychological intervention , business , medicine , agricultural science , biology , food science , computer science , nursing , artificial intelligence
Can behavioral science be used to help food pantries guide their clients to make healthier selections in the absence of explicit education? In a New York City food pantry, the location of a healthy whole grain cereal was altered to two conditions: located along with all other (less healthy) cereals or located ahead of (and separate from) alternative cereals. Inventory records of these cereals were tracked and pre‐post intervention surveys conducted in treatment and control pantries (n = 506). When healthy cereals were placed separately and ahead of competitive cereals, reported selection rose from 8.4% to 32% (p< .0001) compared to the control pantry. This preliminary field study underscores two important findings: (1) small, easy, no‐cost changes can improve food selections from pantry clients; (2) contrary to prior work, healthier food should be seen first and seen separately from less healthy competing foods in order to encourage selection. Leveraging principles of choice architecture and behavioral economics has implications for healthier food selection in pantry settings for the most at risk populations.