The Impact of a Gradual Healthier Assortment among Vocational Schools Participating in a School Canteen Programme: Evidence from Sales and Student Survey Data

Abstract

Many adolescents have poor eating habits. As a major part of their caloric intake takes place at school, the present study aims to examine the effect of increasing the availability of healthier foods in school canteens on sales, student attitude and self-reported behaviour. A quasi-experimental study was carried out at two vocational schools in the Netherlands over a 10-month period, where the visible share of healthier products was gradually or abruptly increased from 60% to 80%. Outcome measures were sales data for healthier and less healthy foods and drinks in the canteens, as well as surveys. The proportion of healthier products sold increased from 31.1% during the baseline period to 35.9% in the final period. A gradual increase led to higher relative sales of healthier products (40%) than an abrupt change (34.5%). Survey data showed that students’ moderate satisfaction remained insensitive to the changes over time. Overall, results suggest that increasing the availability of healthier products in school canteens leads to small positive changes in sales of products, particularly in the product groups beverages and sandwiches. A gradual introduction may ensure that students slowly get used to assortment changes.

Effect of the multicomponent healthy high school intervention on meal frequency and eating habits among high school students in Denmark: a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…by reducing the content of salt or substituting white bread and pasta with wholegrain products [ 50 ]. An intervention at vocational schools used a similar strategy on gradually making a healthier assortment in canteens [ 51 ]. Canteens increased their share of healthier food products from 60 to 80% of the assortment over 10 months and increased their sale of healthy products [ 51 ].…”

“…An intervention at vocational schools used a similar strategy on gradually making a healthier assortment in canteens [ 51 ]. Canteens increased their share of healthier food products from 60 to 80% of the assortment over 10 months and increased their sale of healthy products [ 51 ]. This effect was found to be even higher when the changes were gradually implemented (60% to 70% to 80%) instead of abruptly (60% to 80%) [ 51 ].…”

“…Canteens increased their share of healthier food products from 60 to 80% of the assortment over 10 months and increased their sale of healthy products [ 51 ]. This effect was found to be even higher when the changes were gradually implemented (60% to 70% to 80%) instead of abruptly (60% to 80%) [ 51 ]. Similarly, the interviewed canteen staff in our study underlined the importance of slow and small changes to lure the students in and not ‘scare’ them off [ 50 ].…”

Cafeteria Online: Nudges for Healthier Food Choices in a University Cafeteria—A Randomized Online Experiment

“…Type 2 nudges influence one’s attention and reflective thinking processes exert influence through deliberation [ 13 ]. Several meta-analyses and systematic reviews support the positive effects of nudges on improving eating behaviors [ 14 ], including in university and cafeteria settings [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. For example, nudging within a cafeteria’s lunch pre-ordering system led to 51.4% more fruit and 29.7% more vegetable orders than a pre-ordering system without nudging [ 19 ].…”

“…Nudge interventions that involved applying a poster in a canteen increased fruit and vegetable consumption [ 20 ]. Although nudges are effective in cafeteria settings, effect sizes are often small [ 18 ]. A meta-analysis of healthy eating nudges involving field experiments revealed a Cohen’s d = 0.23 [ 21 ].…”