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Students Eat Healthier With Nutrition Info
By GENARO C. ARMAS, AP
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (July 14) - Pepperoni or cheese pizza? A burger with or without cheese? Students posed with those lunch-line dilemmas were more likely to select the healthier option when a school posted nutritional information at the cafeteria counter, according to a new study.
Researchers at Penn State University reported their findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management after studying students' eating habits at six high schools in Pennsylvania in the fall of 2003.
Students weren't encouraged by teachers or cafeteria workers to make more health-conscious selections, and there were no changes in how food was prepared, said one of the study's authors, Martha Conklin.
"The reason why we think this worked is because we were empowering a student with knowledge," Conklin said. "We didn't make any statements about the food whatsoever. We just put some information out there to see what they would do with it."
The study was published in the spring 2005 issue of the journal, which is a publication of the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit group of 55,000 food service directors, administrators and others involved in school nutrition programs.
Currently, schools aren't required to post nutritional information in a cafeteria, though many schools may mail the information home to parents or post it on a Web site.
In the study, only a few entrees were tested with nutritional boxes posted - typically, pizza with or without pepperoni or burgers with or without cheese. Comparisons couldn't be made between, for instance, a cheeseburger and a garden salad.
Even so, the results were encouraging, said Marilyn Tanner, a registered dietitian at Washington University in St. Louis and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
At one school, an average of 380 pepperoni pizzas were ordered each day during a six-week period when no nutritional boxes were displayed. In the ensuing six weeks, when nutritional information was posted, an average of 346 pepperoni pizzas were ordered.
During the same time, the number of cheese pizzas ordered increased from 37 to 60.
In another district, one school tested the nutritional boxes and another school did not. Students at the first school ordered an average of 61 cheeseburgers per day during the non-test period; that declined to 43 per day while nutrition information was posted. The number of hamburgers ordered went up from 19 to 31 per day. There was no change in the second school.
"It's a start. It's that little bit, but that's what we are looking for," Tanner said. "Make that healthier choice most of the time and you will be ahead of the game."
Researchers couldn't determine how much peer pressure or boredom with the food menu may have swayed students' choices.
The study was conducted in high schools in the Allentown, State College, Hershey and Hollidaysburg districts and included students in urban, suburban and rural areas and in varying socio-economic groups. The results were consistent across those categories, the study said.
Greg Hummel, food service director for the Derry Township School District, which oversees the Hershey high school, said he plans to offer nutritional information for eight to 12 entrees starting this fall.
"It's what we all should do. A high fat item isn't bad if you eat it only once or twice a week," he said.
Linda Rudy, a cafeteria supervisor at one of the State College High School buildings, says her students are generally making healthier choices. But she says her school hasn't posted the information on the lunch line since the study because of a lack of time and space.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Pres
By GENARO C. ARMAS, AP
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (July 14) - Pepperoni or cheese pizza? A burger with or without cheese? Students posed with those lunch-line dilemmas were more likely to select the healthier option when a school posted nutritional information at the cafeteria counter, according to a new study.
Researchers at Penn State University reported their findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management after studying students' eating habits at six high schools in Pennsylvania in the fall of 2003.
Students weren't encouraged by teachers or cafeteria workers to make more health-conscious selections, and there were no changes in how food was prepared, said one of the study's authors, Martha Conklin.
"The reason why we think this worked is because we were empowering a student with knowledge," Conklin said. "We didn't make any statements about the food whatsoever. We just put some information out there to see what they would do with it."
The study was published in the spring 2005 issue of the journal, which is a publication of the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit group of 55,000 food service directors, administrators and others involved in school nutrition programs.
Currently, schools aren't required to post nutritional information in a cafeteria, though many schools may mail the information home to parents or post it on a Web site.
In the study, only a few entrees were tested with nutritional boxes posted - typically, pizza with or without pepperoni or burgers with or without cheese. Comparisons couldn't be made between, for instance, a cheeseburger and a garden salad.
Even so, the results were encouraging, said Marilyn Tanner, a registered dietitian at Washington University in St. Louis and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
At one school, an average of 380 pepperoni pizzas were ordered each day during a six-week period when no nutritional boxes were displayed. In the ensuing six weeks, when nutritional information was posted, an average of 346 pepperoni pizzas were ordered.
During the same time, the number of cheese pizzas ordered increased from 37 to 60.
In another district, one school tested the nutritional boxes and another school did not. Students at the first school ordered an average of 61 cheeseburgers per day during the non-test period; that declined to 43 per day while nutrition information was posted. The number of hamburgers ordered went up from 19 to 31 per day. There was no change in the second school.
"It's a start. It's that little bit, but that's what we are looking for," Tanner said. "Make that healthier choice most of the time and you will be ahead of the game."
Researchers couldn't determine how much peer pressure or boredom with the food menu may have swayed students' choices.
The study was conducted in high schools in the Allentown, State College, Hershey and Hollidaysburg districts and included students in urban, suburban and rural areas and in varying socio-economic groups. The results were consistent across those categories, the study said.
Greg Hummel, food service director for the Derry Township School District, which oversees the Hershey high school, said he plans to offer nutritional information for eight to 12 entrees starting this fall.
"It's what we all should do. A high fat item isn't bad if you eat it only once or twice a week," he said.
Linda Rudy, a cafeteria supervisor at one of the State College High School buildings, says her students are generally making healthier choices. But she says her school hasn't posted the information on the lunch line since the study because of a lack of time and space.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Pres
