Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
Crous Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2024 Jul 16;21(1):75. doi: 10.1186/s12966-024-01624-4.
Changing the food environment is an important public health lever for encouraging sustainable food choices. Targeting the availability of vegetarian main meals served in cafeterias substantially affects food choice, but acceptability has never been assessed. We examined the effects of an availability intervention at a French university cafeteria on students' main meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking.
A four-week controlled trial was conducted in a university cafeteria in Dijon, France. During the two-week control period, vegetarian main meals constituted 24% of the offer. In the subsequent two-week intervention period, this proportion increased to 48%, while all the other menu items remained unchanged. Students were not informed of the change. Student choices were tracked using production data, and daily paper ballots were used to assess student satisfaction with the meal offer and liking of the main meal they chose (score range [1;5]). Nutritional quality, environmental impact, and cost of production of meal choices were calculated for each lunchtime. Food waste was measured over 4 lunchtimes during control and intervention periods. An online questionnaire collected student feedback at the end of the study.
Doubling availability of vegetarian main meals significantly increased the likelihood of choosing vegetarian options (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = [2.41; 2.74]). Responses of the paper ballots (n = 18,342) indicated slight improvements in meal offer satisfaction from 4.05 ± 0.92 to 4.07 ± 0.93 (p = 0.028) and in liking from 4.09 ± 0.90 to 4.13 ± 0.92 (p < 0.001) during control and intervention periods, respectively. The end-of-study questionnaire (n = 510) revealed that only 6% of students noticed a change the availability of vegetarian main meals. The intervention led to a decrease in the environmental impact of the main meals chosen, a slight decrease in nutritional quality, a slight increase in meal costs and no change in food waste.
Doubling availability of vegetarian main meals in a university cafeteria resulted in a twofold increase in their selection, with students reporting being more satisfied and liking the main meals more during the intervention period. These results suggest that serving an equal proportion of vegetarian and nonvegetarian main meals could be considered in French university cafeterias to tackle environmental issues.
Study protocol and analysis plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/pf3x7/ ).
改变食物环境是鼓励可持续食物选择的一个重要公共卫生手段。目标是提供素食主菜在自助餐厅的供应，这将极大地影响食物选择，但可接受性从未被评估过。我们在法国一所大学的自助餐厅进行了一项可用性干预研究，以调查其对学生主食选择、用餐满意度和喜好的影响。
在法国第戎的一所大学自助餐厅进行了为期四周的对照试验。在两周的对照期内，素食主菜占供应的 24%。在随后的两周干预期内，这一比例增加到 48%，而其他所有菜单项目保持不变。学生没有被告知这一变化。使用生产数据跟踪学生的选择，每天使用纸质选票评估学生对餐食供应的满意度和对所选主食的喜好（评分范围[1;5]）。每餐的营养质量、环境影响和生产成本都进行了计算。在对照期和干预期内，在 4 个午餐时间测量食物浪费。研究结束时，通过在线问卷收集学生的反馈意见。
素食主菜供应量增加一倍，显著增加了选择素食的可能性（OR=2.57，95%CI=[2.41;2.74]）。纸质选票的回复（n=18342）表明，在用餐满意度方面，从对照期的 4.05±0.92 略微增加到干预期的 4.07±0.93（p=0.028），在用餐喜好方面，从对照期的 4.09±0.90 增加到干预期的 4.13±0.92（p<0.001）。结束时的问卷调查（n=510）显示，只有 6%的学生注意到素食主菜供应量的变化。该干预措施导致所选主菜的环境影响降低，营养质量略有下降，餐食成本略有增加，食物浪费没有变化。
在大学自助餐厅将素食主菜的供应量增加一倍，导致其选择量增加了两倍，学生在干预期间报告的满意度和对主菜的喜好度更高。这些结果表明，在法国大学的自助餐厅中，可以考虑提供同等比例的素食和非素食主菜，以解决环境问题。
研究方案和分析计划已在开放科学框架（https://osf.io/pf3x7/）上预先注册。
