Acceptability of Whole-Grain Pizza Crust in a Restaurant Setting

Abstract

Objectives are twofold: 1) assess acceptability of whole-grain pizza crust among children in restaurants and 2) examine motivations of parents and children when choosing children’s restaurant meals and parents’ opinions about whole-grain children’s meals. Environmental changes can facilitate eating behavior changes. A 55% whole-grain pizza crust was designed to replace children's refined-grain crust at Green Mill restaurants (Midwest US chain). Consumption was observed by researchers (n=6) in restaurants, with high inter-rater reliability. Data were collected before (n=161) and after (n=62) the new crust was introduced, and is ongoing. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency was established by online survey (n=28) prior to administering the survey in person (n=76) and online (n=177). Survey frequency data and comparison of pre- and post-intervention consumption data via paired t-test. Preliminary data from 5 restaurant locations over 6 months indicate that children consume as much of the whole-grain crust (49.8%) as the original crust (44.3%), based on an average adult serving size of 400g (P=.11). Taste was the most important factor influencing meal selection for parents and children. A majority of parents agreed that whole-grain pizza crust is healthier than refined-grain crust (86.6%). 35.3% of parents indicated their child likes the taste of whole-grain pizza crust, while 43.3% had no opinion. Results show that children will eat whole-grain foods in amounts similar to refined-grain foods at restaurants, where more options exist and their parents influence food selection. This is an important outcome that could serve as the foundation for future work with large, national restaurant chains.