Development of a structured observational method for the systematic assessment of school food-choice architecture

The objective of this study is to develop a structured observational method for the systematic assessment of the food-choice architecture that can be used to identify key points for behavioral economic intervention intended to improve the health quality of children's diets. We use an ethnograph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology of food and nutrition 2016-03, Vol.55 (2), p.119-140
Main Authors: Ozturk, Orgul D., McInnes, Melayne M., Blake, Christine E., Frongillo, Edward A., Jones, Sonya J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavioral economics
Child
Child Behavior
childhood nutrition
Choice Behavior
defaults
Diet
Food
food choice
food choice architecture
Food Preferences
Food Services
Humans
Lunch
nudges
Nutrition
Nutrition Surveys
observational assessment
Observational Studies as Topic
school lunch
School lunches
Schools
Socioeconomic Factors
Students
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Summary:The objective of this study is to develop a structured observational method for the systematic assessment of the food-choice architecture that can be used to identify key points for behavioral economic intervention intended to improve the health quality of children's diets. We use an ethnographic approach with observations at twelve elementary schools to construct our survey instrument. Elements of the structured observational method include decision environment, salience, accessibility/convenience, defaults/verbal prompts, number of choices, serving ware/method/packaging, and social/physical eating environment. Our survey reveals important "nudgeable" components of the elementary school food-choice architecture, including precommitment and default options on the lunch line.
ISSN:0367-0244
1543-5237
DOI:10.1080/03670244.2015.1094062