Food Choice Architecture: An Intervention in a Secondary School and its Impact on Students’ Plant-based Food Choices

Abstract

With growing evidence for the positive health outcomes associated with a plant-based diet, the study’s purpose was to examine the potential of shifting adolescents’ food choices towards plant-based foods. Using a real world setting of a school canteen, a set of small changes to the choice architecture was designed and deployed in a secondary school in Yorkshire, England. Focussing on designated food items (whole fruit, fruit salad, vegetarian daily specials, and sandwiches containing salad) the changes were implemented for six weeks. Data collected on students’ food choice (218,796 transactions) enabled students’ (980 students) selections to be examined. Students’ food choice was compared for three periods: baseline (29 weeks); intervention (six weeks); and post-intervention (three weeks). Selection of designated food items significantly increased during the intervention and post-intervention periods, compared to baseline (baseline, 1.4%; intervention 3.0%; post-intervention, 2.2%) χ2(2) = 68.1, p < 0.001. Logistic regression modelling also revealed the independent effect of the intervention, with students 2.5 times as likely (p < 0.001) to select the designated food items during the intervention period, compared to baseline. The study’s results point to the influence of choice architecture within secondary school settings, and its potential role in improving adolescents’ daily food choices.

A systematic review of school meal nudge interventions to improve youth food behaviors

“…The results of the quality assessment are displayed in Table 1. The global quality ratings of three studies (10%) were of strong quality [35,45,50), seventeen studies (59%) were of moderate quality [23, 29-34, 36, 37, 41, 44, 46-48, 51, 55, 56], and nine studies (31%) were of weak quality [38-40, 42, 43, 49, 52-54].…”

“…Twelve studies (41%) used strong study designs, including nine cluster randomized trials [30,32,36,37,41,44,45,51,55] and three crossover study designs [34,46,50]. Nine studies (31%) used moderately strong study designs, including five non-randomized controlled trials [31,33,35,47,49] and four cross-sectional studies [23,29,43,48]. Eight studies (28%) used weak study designs, including six non-controlled trials [38,42,[52][53][54]56] and two before-after studies [39,40].…”

Food Choice and Nutrition: A Social Psychological Perspective

“…Other social-environmental papers published in this issue focused on attention to food labels [ 7 ] and environmental-based interventions to encourage low calorie snacks [ 8 ] or plant-based foods [ 9 ]. Miller and colleagues [ 7 ] set up a mock shopping task and monitored eye movements to assess attention to nutritional information on food labels in US adults.…”

Evaluation of a Free Milk in Schools Program in New Zealand: Effects on Children's Milk Consumption and Anthropometrics

“…Both promoting and providing healthy food in schools has been shown to improve food choices and may have an influence on long‐term food behavior and health. This ability to influence food choice is known as choice architecture and has been used in a number of school settings to influence healthy food behaviors, such as increasing the consumption of plant based foods …”