METHODS: 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.
RESULTS: 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.
CONCLUSIONS: 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.
BACKGROUND: Study protocol and analysis plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/pf3x7/ ).
方法:一项为期四周的对照试验在第戎的大学食堂进行,法国。在两周的控制期内,素食主餐占报价的24%。在随后的两周干预期,这一比例增加到48%,而所有其他菜单项保持不变。学生没有被告知这一变化。使用生产数据跟踪学生的选择,每天的纸质选票被用来评估学生对膳食的满意度和他们选择的主餐的喜好(分数范围[1;5])。营养品质,环境影响,并计算每个午餐时间的膳食选择生产成本。在控制和干预期间,在4个午餐时间内测量了食物浪费。在线问卷在研究结束时收集了学生的反馈。
结果:素食主餐的可获得性加倍显着增加了选择素食选择的可能性(OR=2.57,95%CI=[2.41;2.74])。纸质投票的反应(n=18,342)表明,在控制和干预期间,膳食满意度从4.05±0.92到4.07±0.93(p=0.028)和从4.09±0.90到4.13±0.92(p<0.001)略有改善。分别。研究结束问卷(n=510)显示,只有6%的学生注意到素食主餐的可用性发生了变化。干预导致所选择的主餐对环境的影响减少,营养质量略有下降,膳食成本略有增加,食物浪费没有变化。
结论:大学食堂素食主餐的可获得性加倍,导致他们的选择增加了两倍,在干预期间,学生报告更满意,更喜欢主餐。这些结果表明,法国大学自助餐厅可以考虑提供同等比例的素食和非素食主餐,以解决环境问题。
背景:研究协议和分析计划已在开放科学框架(https://osf.io/pf3x7/)上预先注册。