265706 Does the location of fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria matter? Evidence from Elementary Schools

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM

Joseph Price, PhD , Economics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
The power of the nudge to influence healthy eating habits has been documented in an increasing amount of research. In this project we examine situations in which schools must weigh the relative impact of different types of nudges and also the tradeoff of simultaneously helping one group while possibly harming another. We focus specifically on school decisions that are designed to increase the fraction of children who are eating fruits and vegetables as part of their school-provided lunch. We primarily focus on the decision of where to locate the fruit and vegetable items in the school cafeteria. Space constraints and the design of the serving area often force schools to make a tradeoff between providing a more convenient location for the fruits and vegetables, or placing them in a separate location that allows for a larger variety of items (in some cases this might even involve the ability to provide a salad bar with many options). We examine the relative impact of these sometimes competing choices (location or variety) that schools must make. We also examine a second policy in which the fruit and vegetable items are made available to all students in the school, regardless of whether they purchased a school lunch. In this setting, changes that make the fruits and vegetables more accessible to children purchasing a lunch may reduce accessibility to the children bringing a lunch from home.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the degree to which changing the location of fruit and vegetable items in a school cafeteria increases the fraction of children eating these items. Discuss the impact of increased fruit and vegetable consumption on child health.

Keywords: Nutrition, Children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal investigator on three federally funded grants related to approaches to encouraging healthy eating in children.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.