Pre-Sliced Fruit in School Cafeterias
Abstract
Background It is often assumed that children avoid fruit in school cafeterias because of higher relative prices and preferences for other foods. Interviews with children reveal that eating whole fresh fruit can be difficult for those with small mouths or braces. Older girls find whole fruits messy and unattractive to eat.Purpose To determine the effect of offering pre-sliced fruit in schools on selection and intake.Design Three of six schools were assigned randomly to serve apples in slices. Three control schools served apples whole. Selection, consumption, and waste of apples were measured prior to and during treatment.Setting/participants Cafeterias in six public middle schools in Wayne County NY in 2011. Participants included all students who purchased lunch on days when data were collected.Intervention Treatment schools were provided with a standard commercial fruit slicer, and cafeteria staff members were instructed to use it when students requested apples. Trained researchers recorded how much of each apple was consumed and how much was wasted in both control and treatment schools.Main outcome measures Daily apple sales, percentage of an apple serving consumed per student, and percentage of an apple serving wasted per student.Results Data were analyzed in 2012. Schools that used fruit slicers to pre-slice fruit increased average daily apple sales by 71% compared to control schools (p<0.01). The percentage of students who selected apples and ate more than half increased by 73% (p=0.02) at schools that served pre-sliced fruit, and the percentage that wasted half or more decreased by 48% (p=0.03).Conclusions Sliced fruit is more appealing to children than whole fruit because it is easier and tidier to eat. This study applies the principle of convenience from behavioral economics and provides an example of a scalable, low-cost environmental change that promotes healthy eating and decreases waste.
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Wansink et al. found the percent of students eating at least half an apple increased by 73% (p = 0.02) with pre-sliced apples.
“Increased consumption of pre-sliced apples was also observed by Wansink and associates in six middle schools using visual estimation, with the percent of students eating at least half of an apple increasing by 73% (p = 0.02) [67].”
From Strategies to Improve School Meal Consumption: A Systematic Review (2021) · cites this paper as [67]
As SBP participation continues to increase and universal free school meal programmes expand, total food waste in such programmes is expected to rise concomitantly.
“As SBP participation continues to increase (32) , and universal free school meal programmes expand (33,34) , total food waste in such programmes is expected to rise concomitantly.”
From ‘It's just so much waste.’ A qualitative investigation of food waste in a universal free School Breakfast Program (2015) · cites this paper as [33]
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- Authors
- Wansink, B., Just, D. R., Hanks, A. S., & Smith, L. E.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wansink, Brian
- Venue
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 477-480
- ISSN
- 0749-3797 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1978319322
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 15.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- school canteens, apple consumption, food waste, behavioral economics, food choice, junior high school students, healthy eating promotion
- MeSH terms
- Child, Female, Food Handling, Food Services, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Menu Planning, Restaurants, Schools, Health Behavior, Malus
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