Nudging young Danish men to eat more vegetables: A food laboratory pilot experiment

Objective: This study assessed the combined effect of two choice archi- tectural nudges as a means to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among male university students.
Methodology: This single one-day lunch meal study was conducted in a Food Scape Laboratory. A control group (n=32) and an intervention group (n=33) were recruited to attend an ad libitum self-serve buffet at two different timeslots. Two choice architectural nudges were applied in the intervention group; the fruit and vegetables were placed at the be- ginning of the buffet and separated in eight separate bowls to increase visual variety. The self-served amount (g) of food components was mea- sured using high intelligence equipment.
Results: The amount (g) of self-served fruit and vegetables was significantly higher in the intervention group (p =.005). The total energy consumed (kJ) was significantly lower in the intervention group (p=.01), while there was no significant difference in the total amount (g) of self- served food between the two groups (p=.326).
Key Findings: This study found convincing evidence for the combined effect of two choice architectural nudges as a means to increase the amount of self-served fruit and vegetables among male university students. 8ased on these findings it is suggested that choice architecture could be used as a supplement to already existing strategies in the pro- motion of public health nutrition.