How Environmental Interventions Influence Behavior in School Lunchrooms

Cornell University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Child Behavior; Health Behavior; Adolescent Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: USDA Regulations; Behavioral: Marketing Kit; Behavioral: Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover (SLM)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT02091154

1202002824

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full description

This study was conducted in 43 schools in the New York City (NYC) School district in the spring of 2012. The new regulations for school lunches were scheduled to roll out nationally in the fall of the same year, so this study was designed to provide an indication of the impact the new regulations would have.

In addition to the regulations, the investigators also tested additional behavioral interventions, in conjunction with the regulations, to determine how the behavioral interventions might offset, or magnify, the impacts of the regulations.

Enrollment: 43 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 5 to 19 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Public schools with any combination of grades K-12

Exclusion criteria

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

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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43 participants in 4 patient groups

USDA Regulations Only

Experimental group

Description:

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

Treatment:

Behavioral: USDA Regulations

USDA Regulations and Marketing Kit

Experimental group

Description:

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

Treatment:

Behavioral: Marketing Kit

Behavioral: USDA Regulations

USDA Regulations and SLM

Experimental group

Description:

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

Treatment:

Behavioral: Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover (SLM)

Behavioral: USDA Regulations

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

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