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The Role of Variety in Increasing the Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables Among Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

David R. Just ,
Jesse Lund  and
Joseph Price
David R. Just
Affiliation:
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York
Jesse Lund
Affiliation:
Department of Economics at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas
Joseph Price
Affiliation:
Department of Economics at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah
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Abstract

We use observational data from 22 elementary schools and over 48,000 child-day observations to examine the relationship between the number of fruit and vegetable items and the consumption patterns of children during school lunch. We find that each additional fruit or vegetable item that is offered increases the fraction of children who eat at least one serving of fruits and vegetables by 12 percent. We also use our observational data to provide practical information about which items are most likely to be eaten by children during lunch and compare this to the cost and nutritional quality of these items.

Keywords

varietyfruits and vegetablesschool lunchchildren
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 2012 , pp. 72 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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