Nudging Kent students toward healthier choices

For the Kent Reporter

When it’s lunchtime at school, do kids choose more pears and apples if fruit is easily accessible in a basket instead of in a stainless steel pan? What about moving the salad bar away from the wall into the middle of the lunchroom near the cashier, or placing white milk in front of chocolate milk?

The Kent School District is at the forefront of making these types of changes known as Behavioral Economics. These low-cost changes to school cafeterias can make a big difference in the food kids choose.

Six secondary schools are trying this innovative approach to nudge students to make healthier food choices. Cafeteria managers from Kentlake, Kent-Meridian, Phoenix Academy, Meridian, Mill Creek and Meeker middle schools recently attended training by national experts to learn about how best to make these changes to their school lunchrooms.

At the training, Kent School District Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas welcomed everyone and voiced his strong support for the project. Dr. David Just, an expert in behavioral economics from Cornell University, followed by presenting a summary of proven behavioral economic strategies used in restaurants and school lunch rooms.

The cafeteria managers talked about the changes they’ve begun making in their lunchrooms and together, came up with creative solutions for some of the challenges they face.

One of the training activities involved a Restaurant Challenge with teams arranging a variety of school foods in attractive containers. Dr. Just critiqued the food arrangements and provided insights into what worked and what might be improved.

Jane Walburn described that her DECA students from Kentlake will be developing a marketing campaign to support the behavioral economic strategies in the six secondary schools. They will create food photos, new catchy menu item names, posters, signage, package labels and taste testing to give students opportunities to provide feedback on the new changes to their cafeterias.

The project is being evaluated by the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition. The evaluators are looking at changes in the food kids buy, what foods they leave behind, and will be interviewing cafeteria staff and students about the program.

The project is funded through the Center for Disease Control’s Community Transformation Grant to Seattle Children’s Hospital along with Public Health Seattle and King County and the Healthy King County Coalition.