Nudging Nutrition: Setting Healthier Defaults in Stores and in Homes

描述（由申请人提供）：此应用程序涉及广泛的挑战领域01：行为，行为改变和预防，以及特定的挑战主题01- od -101：测试默认选项以促进更健康的行为。我们提出了一套三个相关的研究，针对两个关键地点的决策关于食物：超市和家庭。前两项研究的重点是超市环境，以确定设定新的默认值——营养信息或补贴和/或税收与营养信息相结合——是否会鼓励人们购买更健康的食品。第一项研究利用了一项创新的超市购买点营养信息计划实施前后的扫描仪数据。具体来说，我们测试了营养信息计划的实施是否以及如何影响较不健康和较健康食品的购买，以及实施如何影响商店的总销售额。我们假设营养信息减少了不健康食品的销售，增加了健康食品的销售；对商店销售的净影响是一个实证问题。第二项研究通过随机对照试验，结合购买点的营养信息，衡量超市购买对不健康食品征税和健康食品补贴的反应性。我们假设，由于心理原因，税收将减少不健康食品的购买量，而补贴将增加健康食品的购买量，但价格弹性的确切幅度将引起人们的极大兴趣，原因有几个，包括：(1)更好地了解消费者对食品的行为；(2)预测税收和补贴对鼓励健康饮食和预防肥胖的影响。我们还假设，当与营养信息相结合时，税收或补贴的效果将对增加健康食品和减少不健康食品的购买产生更大的影响。第三项研究的重点是家庭环境，并将确定设置新的默认值——更小的盘子，更小的餐具，从厨房柜台而不是餐桌上提供食物——是否会影响人们在家用餐时吃的食物数量。我们假设使用更小的盘子会导致更低的摄入量，因此（成人）体重减轻。因为我们预计儿童在成长过程中体重会增加，我们将跟踪儿童的BMI与标准身高/体重表的关系。总的来说，这三项研究将极大地增强我们对营养看门人如何在两个关键场所（超市和家庭）做出决定的理解，并将为公共卫生政策提供信息，以促进健康饮食和预防肥胖。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application addresses broad Challenge Area 01: Behavior, Behavioral Change, and Prevention, and specific Challenge Topic 01-OD-101: Test default options to promote healthier behaviors. We propose a set of three related studies that target two critical locations for decision- making about food: the supermarket and the home. The first two studies focus on the supermarket environment to determine if setting new defaults - nutritional information or subsidies and/or taxes combined with nutrition information - encourage purchases of healthier food. The first study utilizes scanner data from before and after the implementation of an innovative supermarket point-of-purchase nutrition information program. Specifically, we test whether and how the implementation of the nutrition information program affected purchases of less healthy and more healthy foods, and how the implementation affected total store sales. We hypothesize that nutrition information decreases the sale of less healthy foods and increases the sale of healthy foods; the net effect on store sales is an empirical question. The second study conducts randomized controlled trials to measure the responsiveness of supermarket purchases to taxes on unhealthy foods and subsidies for healthy foods combined with point of purchase information on nutrition. We hypothesize that taxes will decrease purchases of unhealthy foods less than subsidies will increase purchases of healthy foods for psychological reasons, but the exact magnitude of the price elasticities will be of great interest for several reasons, including (1) a better understanding of consumer behavior regarding food and (2) projecting the impact of taxes and subsidies to encourage healthy eating and prevent obesity. We also hypothesize that the effect of taxes or subsidies will have a larger impact on increasing healthy food and reducing unhealthy food purchases when combined with nutrition information. The third study focuses on the home environment and will determine if setting new defaults - smaller plates, smaller utensils, and serving foods from kitchen counters rather than kitchen tables - influences the quantity of food people eat during meals at home. We hypothesize that the use of smaller plates will lead to lower consumption and therefore weight loss (in adults) As we expect children to gain weight at they grow, we will track BMI in relation to standard height/weight tables for the children. Collectively, these three studies will greatly enhance our understanding of how nutritional gatekeepers make decisions in two critical venues (the supermarket and the home) and will inform public health policy to promote healthy eating and to prevent obesity. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project will test the effectiveness of combining simple health based information with a tax levied on less healthy foods and subsidy on more healthy foods in trying to improve diets. Several studies have shown the taxes by themselves to be less effective. Further, we will examine the impact of home serving behaviors on food consumption.