Abstract
Americans of all ages do not consume recommended daily values of healthy foods and nutrients which puts them at risk of chronic disease. Unhealthy eating styles established in childhood may carry over into adulthood, which is often observed in college students who succumb to the “freshman fifteen” phenomenon. Many studies have sought to influence college students to make healthier food choices using various intervention strategies to target dining halls and cafeterias on college campuses. The purpose of present study was to examine the effectiveness of a point-of-purchase (POP) intervention strategy at retail dining locations on a college campus. A POP intervention targeting fruit consumption was displayed at designated retail dining locations for one week. Data were collected from computerized Daily Sales System summaries, and included total fruit sales for the week preceding the POP intervention exposure (baseline) and the week the intervention was present. Differences between mean baseline and intervention fruit sales were statistically analyzed using a paired-samples t-test. Results were found to be statistically significant with a 60.3% increase in fruit sales. However, the increased number of students who purchased fruit during the intervention week represented less than 2% of the total transactions made at retail dining locations during that week.
Description
Food & Health panel
