Healthy Menu Research Articles

The US Chain Restaurant Industry Must Transform Its Business Model to Market Healthy Menu Items to Americans to Reduce Obesity and Chronic Disease Risks

The US Chain Restaurant Industry Must Transform Its Business Model to Market Healthy Menu Items to Americans to Reduce Obesity and Chronic Disease Risks

FOOD RATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN ORPHANAGES OF KARELIA IN THE 1920s AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1930s

The article considers the issue of food provision to children in orphanages of Karelia in the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. The problem of child nutrition was addressed in the official documents of the People’s Commissariat for Education of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialistic Republic as well as in the Soviet doctors’ works of recommendatory character. Instructors and doctors of the People’s Commissariat for Education and the People’s Commissariat for Health dealt with various nutrition issues for children in orphanages. They worked on daily food rations and healthy menus for children, measured the amount of useful nutrients needed, etc. The purpose of this article is to compare standards and the actual situation with rations for children in orphanages in the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. The article was compiled using materials and documents provided by the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia, which helped to see not only the food standards approved by the Department of Welfare of the People’s Commissariat for Education, but also the actual provision of food to the child care facilities. Various issues of food provision to children in orphanages which were not entirely resolved stood out during the period of study.

Trends in the Nutrition Profile of Menu Items at Large Burger Chain Restaurants

Fast food restaurants, including top burger chains, have reduced calorie content of some menu items in recent years. However, the extent to which the nutrition profile of restaurant menus is changing over time is unknown. Data from 2,472 food items on the menus of 14 top-earning burger fast food chain restaurants in the U.S., available from 2012 to 2016, were obtained from the MenuStat project and analyzed in 2019. Nutrition Profile Index scores were estimated and used to categorize foods as healthy (≥64 of 100). Generalized linear models examined mean scores and the proportion of healthy menu items among items offered in all years (2012-2016) and items offered in 2012 only compared with items newly introduced in subsequent years. Overall, <20% of menu items were classified as healthy with no change from 2012 to 2016 (p=0.91). Mean Nutrition Profile Index score was relatively constant across the study period among all food items (≈50 points, p=0.58) and children's menu items (≈56 points, p=0.73). The only notable change in Nutrition Profile Index score or in proportion of healthy items was in the direction of menu items becoming less healthy. At large chain burger restaurants, most items were unhealthy, and the overall nutrition profile of menus remained unchanged from 2012 to 2016. Future research should examine the nutrition profile of restaurant menus in a larger, more diverse sample of restaurants over a longer timeframe and examine whether results are robust when other measures of nutritional quality are used.

Factors influencing the food choices of urban Sri Lankan preschool children: Focus groups with parents and caregivers

Poor diet places children at significant risk of over and under-nutrition including micronutrient deficiencies, which is a public health threat to a middle-income country like Sri Lanka. Understanding factors that influence food choices in early childhood is necessary to promote healthy food choices. As parents are the main gatekeepers of children’s food environment, this study aimed to explore parents/caregivers' perspectives on the factors that influence their children's food choices. Thirteen focus groups adopting a partial nominal group technique were conducted with 110 parents/caregivers of children aged 2-6 years living in an urban area, Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. Parents/caregivers were provided with 22 potential factors and asked to rank six most influential and choose six least influential factors on their child’s food decisions. Responses were discussed as a group and audio recorded discussions underwent content analysis. Child food preference was ranked as the core driving factor in food decisions of preschool children. Family income, nutritional knowledge of the family, maternal control of food choices and household food preparation facilities were ranked as the next four most influential. Most frequent choices of least influential factors were: individual characteristics of child including sex and nutritional knowledge; and community (environmental) characteristics including seasonal food availability and community cultural food beliefs. Additional influential factors proposed were having a single child, a supportive family network and healthy menu suggestions by the preschool centres. Findings suggest that modifying the food preference of the child and the family characteristics need to be central for effective eating interventions.

Worksite health promotion and social inequalities in health.

It is well-documented that higher educated employees have better health than the lower educated. The workplace has been put forward as a contributor to this inequality. We extend previous work on workplace characteristics that could influence employee health by asking to what extent workplace health promotion (WHP) can account for the relation between education and health. Two ways in which WHP may relate to health inequalities are addressed: higher educated employees may be more likely to use WHP than lower educated employees and the effect of WHP on health may be stronger for higher educated than for lower educated employees. Using data from the European Sustainable Workforce Survey which contains information on over 11000 employees in 259 organisations, we test whether three types of WHP mediate or moderate the relation between education and health: healthy menus, sports facilities and health checks. We find that higher educated employees are in better health and that use of WHP positively relates to health. Use of healthy menus and sports facilities in the workplace can contribute to increasing health inequalities, as lower educated employees are less likely to make use of these. Health checks could contribute to diminishing health inequalities, as lower educated employees are more likely to use them compared to higher educated employees. The effect of WHP is not contingent on education. We advise stimulating lower educated employees to make more use of WHP, which can contribute to decreasing health inequalities.

Nutritional composition, glycemic index and glycemic load on Indonesian local package menus

This study was aimed to examine energy, density, proximate, dietary fiber and macronutrients ratio on the glycemic index and glycemic load of 6 kinds Indonesian local package menus made of red rice as a staple food and several other potentially antidiabetic food ingredients. The design was a quasi-experimental with 20 participants each of which were10 non-diabetic subjects (4 males and 6 females) aged between 20.3±1.0 years old and 10 subjects with type 2 diabetes (5 males and 5 females) aged between 54.4±9.3 years old. The results showed test package menu 1 (nasi liwet) has glycemic index and glycemic load can be accepted as healthy menu package in both, non-diabetic subjects (glycemic index = 23.8±9.2; glycemic load = 11.9±4.6) and diabetes subjects (glycemic index = 17.5±8.5; glycemic load = 8.7±3.3). There is a moderate to a strong negative correlation between glycemic index and the incremental area under the curve with the content of protein, fat, total dietary fiber, soluble dietary fiber, and moderate to strong positive correlation with macronutrients ratio. In conclusion, prevention of increased postprandial blood glucose in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus diet can be done by preparing a local Indonesian menu package based on red rice food ingredients by considering the type of menu, protein, fat, total and soluble dietary fiber, and macronutrient ratio.

IDietScoreᵀᴹ: Meal Recommender System for Athletes and Active Individuals

Individualized meal planning is a nutrition counseling strategy that focuses on improving food behavior changes. In the sports setting, the number of experts who are sports dietitians or nutritionists (SD/SN) is small in number, and yet the demand for creating meal planning for a vast number of athletes often cannot be met. Although some food recommender system had been proposed to provide healthy menu planning for the general population, no similar solution focused on the athlete's needs. In this study, the iDietScoreTM architecture was proposed to give athletes and active individuals virtual individualized meal planning based on their profile, includes energy and macronutrients requirement, sports category, age group, training cycles, training time and individual food preferences. Knowledge acquisition on the expert domain (the SN) was conducted prior to the system design through a semi-structured interview to understand meal planning activities' workflow. The architecture comprises: (1) iDietScoreTM web for SN/SD, (2) mobile application for athletes and active individuals and (3) expert system. SN/SD used the iDietScoreTM web to develop a meal plan and initiate the compilation meal plan database for further use in the expert system. The user used iDietScoreTM mobile app to receive the virtual individualized meal plan. An inference-based expert system was applied in the current study to generate the meal plan recommendation and meal reconstruction for the user. Further research is necessary to evaluate the prototype's usability by the target user (athletes and active individuals).

Promoción de alimentación saludable en restaurantes: investigación cualitativa de estudio de casos colombianos

Introducción: La alimentación fuera de casa se ha identificado como uno de los factores que contribuye a la aparición de enfermedades no transmisibles, lo que constituye un problema de salud pública mundial. En este contexto, el presente estudio exploró cómo los restaurantes promocionan alimentación saludable.Material y métodos: La investigación fue de tipo cualitativo con un diseño basado en el estudio de casos. Se incluyeron 68 establecimientos pertenecientes al Top 100 de restaurantes con mayores ventas en Colombia, ubicados en la ciudad capital. Se realizó observación y revisión documental de contenidos dispuestos por dichos restaurantes en su página web, redes sociales oficiales y menú web entre abril de 2016 y febrero de 2017. El análisis de la información fue realizado para atributos en Epiinfo 7.2 y para información categorizada con el programa Nvivo 11.0Resultados: De los 68 restaurantes, ocho declararon el desarrollo de acciones de alimentación saludable como parte de su concepto de negocio; no obstante, otros 25 establecimientos también emprendieron acciones en el tema. En mayor medida, se encontró que los restaurantes promocionan alimentación saludable por medio de la oferta de verduras, o por medio de mensajes, en redes sociales, promocionando sus platos saludables.Conclusiones: Sería beneficioso una aproximación más integral en referencia a la promoción de alimentación saludable en restaurantes. Esto no solo en términos de la oferta, sino también de aquellos mecanismos que persuaden elecciones saludables. Al explorar fueron escasos lo resultados sobre estrategias de precios, campañas o información nutricional. Los resultados expuestos son un aporte al reconocimiento de las características de los ambientes alimentarios colombianos, dada la escasa información al respecto y la necesidad de trabajo en este tema con el sector de la restauración.

Strategy for Decreasing the Rate of Stunting Through Early Childhood Health and Nutrition Training for Tutors/Parents of Early Childhood Education

Stunting also occurs in urban areas, i.e., DKI Jakarta. East Jakarta is the second-highest (25.7%) location where stunting occurred. Since this activity was conducted in Duren Sawit Subdistrict, where numerous people still received Healthy Jakarta Cards, special efforts were needed to reduce the high stunting rate. The method used is qualitative descriptive. The form of training is the participant observation method and demonstration, include cooking demonstrations and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). This efforts made to decrease the number of Stunting in Duren Sawit Subdistrict. The training was given to ± 35 ECE tutors and parents of students from various ECE in Duren Sawit Subdistrict. Tutors and parents seemed enthusiastic and active during the activities, especially when they were given the task to create a one-week healthy menu in groups and then closed with a demo of making a cake with purple sweet potato as ingredients.

Regulating the Fast-Food Landscape: Canadian News Media Representation of the Healthy Menu Choices Act.

With the rapid rise of fast food consumption in Canada, Ontario was the first province to legislate menu labelling requirements via the enactment of the Healthy Menu Choice Act (HMCA). As the news media plays a significant role in policy debates and the agenda for policymakers and the public, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to clarify the manner in which the news media portrayed the strengths and critiques of the Act, and its impact on members of the community, including consumers and stakeholders. Drawing on data from Canadian regional and national news outlets, the major findings highlight that, although the media reported that the HMCA was a positive step forward, this was tempered by critiques concerning the ineffectiveness of using caloric labelling as the sole measure of health, and its predicted low impact on changing consumption patterns on its own. Furthermore, the news media were found to focus accountability for healthier eating choices largely on the individual, with very little consideration of the role of the food industry or the social and structural determinants that affect food choice. A strong conflation of health, weight and calories was apparent, with little acknowledgement of the implications of menu choice for chronic illness. The analysis demonstrates that the complex factors associated with food choice were largely unrecognized by the media, including the limited extent to which social, cultural, political and corporate determinants of unhealthy choices were taken into account as the legislation was developed. Greater recognition of these factors by the media concerning the HMCA may evoke more meaningful and long-term change for health and food choices.

EARLY DETECTION OF HYPERTENSION IN ELDERLY AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH HEALTHY LIFE BEHAVIOR

Hypertension is common in the elderly. The diseases is related to unhealthy lifestyles include unhealthy food habitual and lack of physical activity. Delay in detecting and handling have an impact on the quality of life. The community service had been carried out at Tanjung Anom Village, Pancurbatu subdistrict, Deli Serdang. The purpose of this activity to detect hypertension through health examination (Height, weight, waist size, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and uric acid level), followed by education on healthy lifestyles and elderly gymnastic exercise and preparation of healthy menu. Of the 49 elderly were present, 26 people (53.1%) were obese, 12 people (24.5%) had diastolic hypertension, and 30 people (61.2%) were at the stage of prehypertension. Based on risk factors, 7 people (14.3%) had high blood glucose levels, as many as 38 people (77.6%) had high cholesterol levels and 28 people (57.1%) with high uric acid levels. From the results, most of elderly have high blood pressure. In the effort to reduce the number of hypertensive patients in the elderly, it is necessary to early detection and applied a healthy lifestyle.

Children's Intake of Food from Non-Fast-Food Outlets and Child-Specific Menus: A Survey of Parents.

Eating out-of-home is associated with higher energy intakes in children. The continued high prevalence of childhood obesity requires a greater understanding of child menu options and eating out frequency to inform appropriate regulatory initiatives. The majority of studies to date have focused on menus from fast-food outlets with few focused on non-fast-food outlets. This study aimed to describe parents’ reports of their child(ren)’s (aged up to 6 years) frequency of consuming foods at non-fast-food outlets, observations of child menus at these outlets, and their purchasing behaviours and future preferences regarding these menus; and if their responses were influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. Ninety-five parents completed a 15-item cross-sectional survey. Overall, children from 54% of families consumed food from non-fast-food outlets at least monthly. Of the 87 parents who reported that their child eats at a non-fast-food restaurant, 71 had children who ordered from child menus every time (7%, n = 5), often (29%, n = 22), sometimes (42%, n = 32) or rarely (16%, n = 12), with a further 7% (n = 5) never ordering from these menus. All parents indicated that they would like to see a higher proportion of healthy child menu items than is currently offered. Parents’ responses were not influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. Parents’ views support implementation of initiatives to increase availability of healthy options on child menus at non-fast-food outlets.

School-based intervention that integrates nutrition education and supportive healthy school food environment among Malaysian primary school children: a study protocol

BackgroundMalnutrition among school children may contribute to adverse health consequences such as non-communicable diseases, poor cognitive performance, psychological distress and poor quality of life that may persist into adulthood. In order to prevent childhood malnutrition, an intervention programme that integrates nutrition education and healthy school food environment is needed to provide nutrition information and reinforce the skills on healthy eating behaviours in schools. This paper describes a study protocol of a school-based intervention programme that integrates nutrition education and healthy school food environment, namely School Nutrition Programme (SNP). The SNP is a primary prevention programme that promotes healthy lifestyle among primary school children in light of the high prevalence of malnutrition in Malaysian children.Methods/designThis quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SNP between intervention and comparison groups before and after the SNP, and after a 3-month follow-up. The SNP consisted of two main components, whereby three nutrition education sessions were implemented by trained teachers using three standardised modules, and healthy school food environment was implemented by the canteen food handlers with the provision of healthy menu to children during school recess times. Children from intervention group participated in the SNP, in addition to the standard Physical and Health Curriculum. The comparison group attended only the standardised Physical and Health Curriculum and the school canteen food handlers were reminded to follow the standard canteen guidelines from the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The assessment parameters in evaluating the effectiveness of the programme were knowledge, attitude and practice on nutrition, eating behaviours, physical activity, body composition, psychological distress, cognitive performance and health-related quality of life. Assessments were conducted at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up.DiscussionIt was hypothesised that the SNP would be effective in promoting healthy lifestyle among school children, and further contributes in preventing malnutrition problem, enhancing cognitive performance and improving health-related quality of life among school children. Findings of the present study can be expanded to other schools in future on ways to improve nutrition education and healthy school food environment.Trial registrationUMIN Clinical Trial Registration UMIN000032914 (Date of registration: 7th June 2018, retrospectively registered).Protocol version16th September 2019 & Version 4

How do social norms affect customers’ food selections at restaurants? Investigating social norms misalignment using polynomial regression with response surface analysis

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of perceived social norms on customers’ intentions to choose healthy menu items at restaurants. Specifically, injunctive norms and descriptive norms were examined, and the effects of misalignment of these social norms were explored on those intentions. To remedy problems associated with a more traditional analytical technique often used in misalignment studies, polynomial regression with response surface analysis was employed. Results revealed that when people perceived that most others eat healthy and approve of healthy eating, they were more likely to have intentions to choose healthy menu items. However, the conflict between perceived injunctive and descriptive norms weakened such intentions. This study expanded the literature on the role of social norms in changing behavioral intentions by investigating the roles of these two social norms, as well as the conflict between the two norms related to choosing healthy menu items by employing a new analytical technique.

Pengaruh Paket Menu Sehat terhadap Peningkatan Kadar Hb Remaja Putri

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span lang="IN"&gt;Female teenager is one of the vulnerable groups to suffer anemia. Anemia prevalence of female teenager belongs to a public health problem. The objective of this research was to find out the influences of the healthy menu to female teenager Hb level improvement in the Roudhlatul Qur’an Islamic Boarding School in Metro in 2018. This research used &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;quasi-experiment pretest and posttest with control group&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span data-preserver-spaces="true"&gt; design by comparing two groups with the intervention of healthy menu package administration to a treatment group and giving no treatment to control group. The population was 60 female teenagers in Roudhlatul Qur’an Islamic Boarding School. Data were collected by conducting Hb examination by using Haemock before and after treatment. Data were processed and analyzed by using &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;an independent t-test&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span data-preserver-spaces="true"&gt;. The average result of Hb level of respondents having health menu package treatment was 14.76gr% with standard of deviation of 1.37 and 13.56gr% in control group respondent with a standard of deviation of 1.05. The statistic test result derived p-value 0.000 with an alpha of 5%, and this indicated that there was a significant difference in Hb level average between treatment group and control group. There is an effect of healthy menu packages on Improvement Young Women HB Levels.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Perilaku Konsumen di Kafe

The increasingly fierce business competition conditions and increasing creativity in Bandung require business people, especially in the culinary field, to innovate. One Eighty Coffee and Music is one cafe that innovates by having a unique concept. However, besides the unique things, there are other factors that encourage consumer behavior in making purchasing decisions at a cafe. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out the most dominant and significant factors in encourage purchasing decisions in One Eighty Coffee and Music. This research is a descriptive type research, using quantitative research methods. The measurement scale in this study is a Likert scale. The population in this study is, One Eighty Coffee and Music consumers with a sample of 100 respondents. The sampling technique used is non-probability sampling with one type of grouping namely accidental sampling. The process of data collection is to use primary data and secondary data. The data analysis technique used is factor analysis using SPSS 23 for processing the data. In this study, there are 4 new components that encourage consumers to make purchases at One Eighty Coffee and Music. The four components that can cover all these factors are hedonist, availability and supply, promotion and advertising, and health benefits. Based on the calculation of loading factors, the health benefit factor is the most dominant and significant factor in encourage purchasing decisions in One Eighty Coffee and Music, meaning consumers make purchases at One Eighty Coffee and Music because consumers are aware of their health and One Eighty Coffee and Music is trusted have a healthy menu that can fulfill consumer desires in maintaining personal health and the desire to consume healthy products. Therefore, One Eighty Coffee and Music is expected to provide food that can fulfill health, not just filling, but also makes consumers healthy. Keywords: Consumer behavior, Factor Analysis, Purchasing Decisions

Addressing workplace violence with the Pathway to Excellence® framework.

Addressing workplace violence with the Pathway to Excellence® framework.

FP6 Supporting Healthy Habits in Childcare with Online Trainings for CACFP Participants

Objective To develop interactive and engaging online trainings for CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) participants, based on adult learning principles and instructional strategy, including audience analysis, and formative evaluation of knowledge gained. The modules support healthy habits in childcare homes and centers. Description A training needs assessment of CACFP participants, completed as part of the Iowa Team Nutrition 2017 grant, revealed menu planning and healthy food purchasing were topics of greatest interest. A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist wrote content for the modules and Iowa Public Television provided instructional design consultation on best practices for adult learners; online course template with discussion board; knowledge assessments; video production; and certification procedures. Healthy Menu Makeover and Healthy Food Purchasing modules were developed, including lesson content, assessments, graphics, links to resources, and certificates of completion. The modules were pilot tested by 10 CACFP participants who provided valuable feedback to make the modules relevant to users. The total budget for the project was $13,500. The modules are available at no cost, can be completed at the participant's own pace and accessed anywhere with an internet connection. Evaluation The modules were released in April 2018 and certificates earned through December 2018 included 516 for Healthy Menu Makeover and 288 for Healthy Food Purchasing. A participant is allowed to take a final quiz up to three times to reach a passing grade of at least 80% correct. Demographic survey results report 51% of users are from centers and 38% are home providers. Conclusions and Implications The online modules have been a popular and effective training option to meet CACFP training requirements in Iowa. Lessons learned include the value of a needs assessment to determine training topics, implementation of an instructional design process, use of an online learning platform, and use of discussion boards to engage learners.

레스토랑 선택속성, 고객만족, 행동의도와의 관계 연구: 부산지역 뉴 실버세대를 대상으로

This study aims to help the eating-out industry respond to the developing silver industry by examining the effect of the choice properties of restaurants on customer satisfaction, behavior and identifying interrelationships.BR This study conducted an empirical analysis through a survey of New Silver Generation visiting restaurants for the purpose of determining the causal relationship between restaurant selection attributes, customer satisfaction and behavioral intention. The following are the results.BR First, the results hypothesize that well-being healthy menu, food ingredients and health values, which are sub-factors of restaurant choice properties, would have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.BR Second, the results hypothesize that customer satisfaction would have a significant positive effect on the intention of repurchase and the intention of oral intent, both of which are supported and are sub-component of behavioral intention.

A cross-sectional description of mobile food vendors and the foods they serve: potential partners in delivering healthier food-away-from-home choices

BackgroundFood away from home (FAFH) in the US is associated with adverse health outcomes, and food dollars spent on FAFH continues to increase. FAFH studies have typically focused on restaurants and carryout establishments, but mobile food vendors – popularly known in the US as food trucks – have become more numerous and are an understudied segment of FAFH. The objective of this study was to assess mobile food vendors, their attitudes toward health and nutrition, and the foods they serve.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study of 41 mobile food vendors in Michigan, US. The survey contained questions about food and nutrition attitudes, such as barriers to putting healthy items on menus and perceived agreement with healthy food preparation practices. Participants were classified into a healthy and a less healthy attitude group based on whether they believed healthy menu items could be successful or not. In addition, participant menus were collected and analyzed according to whether menu items were healthy, moderately healthy, or unhealthy. Descriptive, univariate, and bivariate analyses were conducted.ResultsTwo-thirds of the participants felt that healthy menu items could be successful, and yet taste and value were the most important menu item success factors, each rated as important by 100% of the participants. Low consumer demand was the biggest barrier to putting healthy items on the menu (76%) whereas lack of chef interest (29%) and need for special training (24%) were the smallest. 72% of the vendors offered at least one healthy menu item, but only 20% of all reviewed menu items were healthy overall. There was no difference in the proportion of menu items that were healthy when comparing those with healthy attitudes (23% of menu items healthy) to those less healthy attitudes (17% of menu items healthy, p = 0.349).ConclusionsMobile food vendors had positive views about putting healthy items on menus. However, a low proportion of menu items were classified as healthy. This suggests that mobile food vendors are promising potential public health partners in improving the health profile of FAFH, but that education of vendors is needed to ensure the success of healthier items.