A new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by Program in Nutrition alum Dr. Ian Ang et. al., indicates that one way to get students to eat more fruit at school may be as simple as slicing it.

Cutting fruit, as opposed to serving whole fruit, seemed to break down barriers that keep students from eating fruit during the school day.

In this study, researchers investigated various processes and environmental factors to determine their influence on how much fruits and vegetables students ate. The factors studied included: when students go to recess (before or after lunch); the length of the lunch period; pre-plating fruits and vegetables on students’ trays; wait time before getting school lunch; the number of fruit and vegetable options available; and how the fruit and vegetables were served. This study also found a modest contribution to higher fruit consumption when students had recess before lunch, a finding confirmed by prior studies.

This research points to the need for policies and funding that enable schools to have the staff and kitchen facilities to cut up fruit and the scheduling flexibility to have recess prior to lunch. Taken together, these actions could make a significant contribution to students’ fruit consumption over the long term.

– Dr. Pam Koch