Health & Medicine - Posted by Stacey Shackford-Cornell on Monday, July 30, 2012 11:52 - 3 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Healthy food cues better school lunch choices
Kids who see healthy items in the cafeteria might not pick up fruits and vegetables, but they may make healthier choices than students exposed to more sugary options. (Credit: Sodexo USA/Flickr)
CORNELL (US) — Just the presence of nutritious foods like whole fruit may prompt kids to make healthier choices in the school cafeteria, even if they don’t choose the fruit itself.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
A study by researchers at the Cornell University Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN Center) found that the mere presence of applesauce and fruit cocktail on the school lunch line sent students to seek out sugary snacks, increasing the number of cookies, ice cream bars, and Little Debbie snack cakes they purchased.
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By contrast, the presence of green beans and bananas inspired the students to make more healthful choices.
“The impacts of offering a single vegetable or fruit may have significant implications for the whole meal,” says study co-author Andrew Hanks, a postdoctoral researcher for the BEN Center.
“Even though these students did not take a fruit or vegetable, either in a meal or as a separate item, their choices of the less healthy a la carte items were still affected by the presence of fruits and vegetables,” says BEN Center co-director and study co-author David Just. Brian Wansink, the other co-director, is also a co-author.
The study, published in the April edition of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, analyzes school lunch purchase data from two schools in upstate New York.
The authors hypothesized that the children’s choices could be the result of the “priming effect.” The sugariness of applesauce and fruit cocktail might have led the children to be drawn to other items with greater sugar content, while the green beans and bananas could cause the student to think about healthful foods.
Although the exact foods that trigger behavior may differ from cafeteria to cafeteria, the principle is that relatively more healthful items trigger healthier choices and vice versa.
The findings build upon previous studies by Just and Wansink that have found that environmental cues such as visibility, convenience, and accessibility can affect behavior in systematic ways.
“Trigger foods may fly under the radar, influencing choice without overtly drawing the attention of the decision maker, but they can have substantial effects on the nutritional content of the food selected,” Wansink says.
Just adds that the behavioral anomaly could be exploited to lead children to eat better. “This information can be most useful for food service directors as they strive to identify which options will help students make the most healthful choices,” he says.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service and Food and Nutrition Services supported the research.
More news from Cornell University: www.news.cornell.edu
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3 Comments
Aubrey West @ Healthy Foods for Kids
I am completely agree with the findings. As children do not put much thought about taking a decision, so they pick whatever nearer or visible to them. Their behavior can easily be channelized by simple tricks.
I remember my high school cafeteria only offering the students french fries, cookies, and the occasional lasagne. I agree that we must be aware on these “trigger foods” that will aid in choosing the healthier alternatives when purchasing their lunch and snacks.
Great article! I agree to your ideas. School canteens should sell healthy foods to eat instead of junk foods.