How Environmental Interventions Influence Behavior in School Lunchrooms

NCT02091154 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1202002824
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 43
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators hypothesize that the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations for lunches served as part of the National School Lunch Program will decrease the percentage of enrolled students purchasing lunch, increase the percentage of children taking fruit and vegetables, decrease the percentage of fruit and vegetable servings being thrown away, and increase the total number of fruit and vegetable servings eaten. The investigators also hypothesize that when the regulations are in force, simple behavioral interventions can counteract the potentially negative impact on lunch sales and consumption. In other words, implementing the regulations and behavioral interventions together, the percentage of enrolled students taking a school lunch will increase at least back to baseline levels, the percentage of children taking fruits and vegetables will increase, the percentage of fruit and vegetable servings wasted will decrease, and the total number of fruit and vegetable servings eaten will increase.

Conditions

Child Behavior; Adolescent Behavior; Health Behavior

Keywords

Food Intake Regulation; Fruit; Vegetable

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in percent fruit or vegetable waste by student

  In the twelve schools, tray waste data were collected twice in April 2012 and once in May 2012. Results were generated and reported in September 2012.

  Six months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in lunch sales

  Six months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Change in servings of fruits and vegetables taken

  Six months

Study Arms (4)

USDA Regulations Only

EXPERIMENTAL

Implement USDA Regulations in assigned school cafeterias during the intervention period.

Behavioral: USDA Regulations

USDA Regulations and Marketing Kit

EXPERIMENTAL

Implement new USDA regulations in assigned schools along with the Marketing Kit during the intervention period.

Behavioral: USDA Regulations; Behavioral: Marketing Kit

USDA Regulations and SLM

EXPERIMENTAL

Implement USDA Regulations and Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover in assigned schools during intervention period.

Behavioral: USDA Regulations; Behavioral: Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover (SLM)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Schools assigned to this intervention made no changes to their lunchroom or menus.

Interventions

USDA Regulations BEHAVIORAL

Implement new USDA regulations assigned school cafeterias. 1. Fruit or vegetable on every tray 2. Meet requirements for vegetable varieties 3. 50% of all grains must be whole grain 4. Milk must be 1% or skim; flavored milk must be skim

USDA Regulations Only; USDA Regulations and Marketing Kit; USDA Regulations and SLM

Marketing Kit BEHAVIORAL

This marketing tool kit is designed to encourage purchasing of school lunches. The marketing tool kit included the following components: 1. 56''x72'' vinyl sign with the words "\[school mascot\] Cafe" 2. 8.5''x11'' signs describing the foods offered on a specific day 3. 2''x4'' signs used to name all foods. These were to be placed in a visible location near the corresponding food. 4. Magnetic board displaying a tray onto which magnets shaped as food can be placed to show what foods were being offered during a specific lunch shift.

USDA Regulations and Marketing Kit

Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover (SLM) BEHAVIORAL

Implement three basic Smarter Lunchrooms techniques. It consists of the following components: 1. Place fruit in an attractive bowl or serving dish and set on two places on the line. One of the places should be at or near the register. 2. Give all vegetables descriptive names and write or type them on a 2''x4'' card. These cards should be visible and placed near the corresponding food. 3. Make white milk the most prominent milk in the milk coolers by making it the most available milk and easiest to take.

USDA Regulations and SLM

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Public schools with any combination of grades K-12

You may not qualify if:

• No point of sale system in school
• Satellite school
• Feeder school

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cornell University: lead
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

New York City School District

New York, New York, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Hanks AS, Wansink B, Just DR. Reliability and accuracy of real-time visualization techniques for measuring school cafeteria tray waste: validating the quarter-waste method. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014 Mar;114(3):470-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.08.013. Epub 2013 Oct 14.

  PMID: 24135053 BACKGROUND

• Hanks AS, Just DR, Wansink B. Smarter lunchrooms can address new school lunchroom guidelines and childhood obesity. J Pediatr. 2013 Apr;162(4):867-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.12.031. Epub 2013 Feb 22.

  PMID: 23434267 BACKGROUND

• Wansink B, Just DR, Hanks AS, Smith LE. Pre-sliced fruit in school cafeterias: children's selection and intake. Am J Prev Med. 2013 May;44(5):477-80. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.02.003.

  PMID: 23597811 BACKGROUND

• Hanks AS, Just DR, Smith LE, Wansink B. Healthy convenience: nudging students toward healthier choices in the lunchroom. J Public Health (Oxf). 2012 Aug;34(3):370-6. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fds003. Epub 2012 Jan 31.

  PMID: 22294661 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Child Behavior; Adolescent Behavior; Health Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Adam Brumberg, BA

  Cornell University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Kathryn Hoy, RD, MFN

  Cornell University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• David Just, PhD

  Cornell University

  STUDY CHAIR

• Brian Wansink, PhD

  Cornell University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Andrew Hanks, PhD

  Cornell University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2014
• First Posted: March 19, 2014
• Study Start: March 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2012
• Study Completion: May 1, 2012
• Last Updated: February 7, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-01

Locations

US (1)