3 Things You Can Learn About Your Kids' Eating Habits

1. 3 Simple Things that had Elementary and Middle School Students
Doubling or Tripling their Vegetable Intake!
and It’s
FUN
Attractive Names Sustain Increased
Vegetable Intake in Schools
Food Plating Preferences of Children: The Importance of
Presentation on Desire for Diversity
Finger Fruits: Pre-Sliced Fruit in Schools
Increases Selection and Intake

2. Attractive Names Sustain Increased
Vegetable Intake in Schools
Abstract:
This study will determine if the selective use of attractive names can be a sustainable, scalable
means to increase the selection of vegetables in school lunchrooms. Study 1 paired an attractive
name with carrots in five elementary schools (n=147) and measured selection and consumption
over a week compared to controls. Study 2 tracked food sales of vegetables in two elementary
schools (n=1017) that were systematically attractively named or not named over a two-month
period. Both studies were conducted in New York in 2011.
Study 1 found that elementary students ate twice the percentage of their carrots if attractively
named as “X-ray Vision Carrots,” than if un-named or generically named as the “Food of the Day.”
Study 2 found that elementary school students were 16% more likely to persistently choose more
hot vegetable dishes (p<0.001) when they were given fun or attractive names. Attractive names
effectively and persistently increased healthy food consumption in elementary schools. The
scalability of this is underscored by the success of Study 2, which was implemented and executed
for negligible cost by a high school student volunteer.
Brian Wansink
Cornell University
David R. Just
Cornell University - Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Collin R. Payne
New Mexico State University
Matthew Klinger
Half Hollow Hills High School East
June 7, 2012

3. Food Plating Preferences of Children: The Importance of
Presentation on Desire for Diversity
Abstract:
Aim: Given the importance of food presentation and childhood nutrition, we aimed to test the
degree to which adults and children might demonstrate different preferences for various ways in
which food can be presented on plates.
Methods: Twenty-three pre-teen children and 46 adults were individually presented full-size
photos of 48 different combinations of food on plates. The photos varied according to seven
dimensions (e.g. number of items, placement of entree and organization of the food).
Results: Contrary to the default assumption that parents and children share preferences for the
ways in which food is presented on plates, we find that children have notably different
preferences than adults. Most remarkably, we show that children tended to prefer seven
different items and six different colors on their ideal plates, while adults tended to prefer three
different colors and three different items.
Conclusion: The assumption that children prefer food presentations that match adult preferences
appears to be unjustified. Future research and interventions that are designed to improve
childhood nutrition should test for the impact of diverse presentations on actual food
consumption among a variety of populations across institutional settings.
Francesca Zampollo
Auckland University of Technology
Kevin M. Kniffin
Cornell University - Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Brian Wansink
Cornell University
Mitsuru Shimizu
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
July 7, 2011

4. Finger Fruits: Pre-Sliced Fruit in Schools
Increases Selection and Intake Abstract:
Background: It is often assumed that children avoid fruit in school cafeterias because of higher relative prices and a
preference for other foods. Laddering interviews reveal that younger children with small mouths or braces find whole
fresh fruit difficult to eat. Older girls avoid it because it is messy and unattractive to eat.
Purpose: To determine if offering pre-sliced fruit would increase the selection and intake of fruit among middle school
students.
Design: Three out of six middle schools were randomly given commercial fruit slicers and instructed to use them when
students ordered apples. The selection and consumption of sliced apples was compared to selection and consumption of
whole apples in control schools.
Setting/Participants: Cafeterias in six public middle schools in Wayne County, New York. All students who ordered a
lunch on days when data was collected.
Intervention: In the fall semester of 2011, treatment schools were given a standard commercial fruit slicer and instructed
to use it when students requested apples. Production and waste measurements were taken by trained researchers.
Main Outcome Measures: Apple and other fruit sales, percentage wasted, and consumed.
Results: Apple sales increased by 41% and consumption increased by 17%.
Conclusions: Using the behavioral economics principle of convenience, this study shows that sliced fruit is more
appealing than unsliced fruit, simply due to eating convenience and neatness. Opportunities exist for identifying
effective applications of convenience and other environmental changes that promote healthy eating behavior and
decrease waste. Brian Wansink David Just
Cornell University Cornell University - Dyson School of Applied
Economics and Management
Andrew S. Hanks Laura E. Smith
Cornell University – Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell School of
Applied Economics University
and Management
October 17, 2012