Nutrition Strategies in Worksite Wellness

2014 State Agency Wellness ConferenceWellness at Your Worksite: Making the Ideal Real

October 14, 2014

Exploring Assumptions

Eating is a conscious act. Given the right information, people can eat the right types and quantity of food.

OR

Eating is an unconscious behavior controlled by the environment rather than by the individual.

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We process most information unconsciously

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Decision Making

Brain Processes • We can think about only one thing at a time

• Everything else functions automatically

– Entire human processing capacity (including visual system and unconscious) can process ~11 million bits per second

– Humans can consciously process 40-60 bits per second

– Most actions and decisions are NOT conscious

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Cognitive40-60 bits/second

Impulsive,automatic~11 million bits/second

Source: Dijksterhuis A, et al The Unconscious Consumer: Effects of Environment on Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology 2005;15(3):193-202.

Eating as Mindful or Mindless Eating?

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OR

Portion Sizes as a Cue to Stop Eating

People served a baked pasta dish 50% larger than normal ate 43% more than those served the normal portion

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What if the food doesn’t taste good?

People at a movie theater were given stale popcorn and complained about the taste. Those given popcorn in boxes 2x the normal size ate 34% more popcorn than those given the normal size.

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Placement and Visibility

•Office workers with chocolate Kisses within reach ate 5.6 more candies per day than workers with candy on a shelf 2 m away

•Office workers who had candy on their desks in transparent jars ate 3.1 more chocolate Kisses than office workers with the candy in opaque jars.

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Mindlessly Eating Healthier

• If we can eat mindlessly worse, we can eat mindlessly better

• The food environment is powerful

• Focus efforts on the organizational level

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WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF FOOD AND DRINK

Brainstorm: What are the sources of food and beverages in the worksite setting?

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Food and Beverages at Work

•Cafeteria / Snack Bar

•Convenience store

•Vending machines

•Meetings

•Potlucks

•Breakroom

•Lunches from home

•Snacks at desk

•Candy bowls

•Fundraising

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4 P’s of Marketing

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Business Enterprises of Texas

•Business Enterprises of Texas (BET) is a federally sponsored, state-administered program that provides food service management opportunities to Texans who are blind.

•BET managers oversee state agency cafeterias, snack bars, convenience stores, vending

•Each manager is the sole proprietor

•Each manager completes a 16-week training

•Various levels of knowledge and experience in food service

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Randolph-Sheppard Act

•Federal law that gives legally blind vendors advantages over other vendors who operate vending facilities (vending machines, cafeterias, and snack bars) at the federal level

•Establishes a vending business program in each state, Business Enterprise Program (BEP)

•Each state designates a state licensing agency to oversee implementation

•Texas has adopted laws similar to the Randolph-Sheppard Act

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Product in Cafeterias

•BET recommends 1 healthy entrée per day

•No required nutrition standards

•General food-based recommendations

•No nutrient-based standard (% calories, fat, carbohydrates, etc.)

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Cafeteria Manager Presentations

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Cafeteria: Placement

17Brian Wansinksmarterlunchrooms.org

Cafeteria and Convenience Stores: Placement

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Brian Wansink nudges.org

Vending: Product

•BET recommends a mixture of products to attract both types of customers

– 85% “normal” snacks /15% healthier snacks

•Product recommendations in Nutrition Notebook

•Nutrition standards for healthier options– NANA Model Beverage and Food Vending Machine

Standards– CDC Health and Sustainability Guidelines for

Federal Concessions and Vending Operations– Healthy Vending Machine Policy – City of San

Diego Dept of Parks and Recreation

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Vending: Placement

•Planograms– Science of placing items in vending

machines

•All BET vendors are trained and have access to a BET Classroom CD that includes a planogram template

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Vending: Placement & Promotion

A-01.00

~Sun Chips 1.8 ozNacho

Par Level 8 A-2 A-4 A-6 A-8B-0

1.00 ~PF Chr Gold Fish

Whole WheatPar Level 6 B-2 B-4 B-6 B-8

C-01.00

~FL Baked PC 2.0 ozOriginal

Par Level 8 C-2 C-4 C-6 C-8D-11.00NV-Pnt Crunchy 1.5 ozPar Level 12

D-21.00Qkr Chy B Bar 1.48 oz PB Cho CpPar Level 10 D-3 D-4 D-5 D-6 D-7 D-8 D-9

D-10

E-11.00Org Trail Mx unsalted 2 ozPar Level 10

E-21.00Rstd Sun FlowerKernels 1 ozPar Level 10 E-3 E-4 E-5 E-6 E-7 E-8 E-9

E-10

F-01.00

Snackanimals 2.12 ozwht-free oatmeal

Par Level 6 F-3 F-4 F-5 F-6 F-7 F-8 F-10

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Example Planogram with 15% Healthy Items (8 items) in a 58 Spiral Machine – Table.

Vending and Cafeterias: Promotion

•Better Eating Today

•Chalkboards or dry erase boards

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Price

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Working with BET Managers

•Collaborate and share ideas

•Don’t intimidate or make the manager feel bad

•Help the manager see the financial gain

•If the manager has healthy products available, work on pricing, placement, and/or promotion

•Change takes time

•Make incremental changes

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Questions re: Planogram or Nutrition Notebook

Joe Gonzalez

BET Training Specialist

Joe.Gonzalez@dars.state.tx.us

(512) 377-0558

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Meetings, Potlucks, Conferences, Breakroom

http://cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/healthy-meeting.html

•Healthy Meeting Toolkit

•Healthy Meeting Guidelines

•Healthy Eating Model Resolution

•Webinar

•Healthy Eating Pledge

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CDC Healthy Meetings and Events

•Offer a variety of grains—especially whole-grain foods—and fruits and vegetables.

•Provide fat-free, low-fat, or low-calorie foods and beverages.

•Offer foods and beverages low in added sugars.

•Serve foods that are low in salt and sodium.

• Include smaller portions .

•Consider offering only beverages at mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks.

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Meetings and Potlucks: Placement

•Place vegetables first in line

•Place healthier entrees closer

•Place non-fruit desserts farther away

•Place food at a separate table than where people are sitting

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Candy Bowl

•Product: small fresh fruits (oranges, finger bananas), individually wrapped dried fruits, boxes of raisins, small packages of nuts

•Placement: out of arm’s reach in an opaque container with a lid

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Food from Home or at Desk

•Prepare meals and snacks in advance

•Keep healthy snacks on hand

•Keep food out of sight

•Planning, cooking skills, discipline

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Farm to Work

•Farm to Work Toolkit http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/obesity/nutritionfarmtowork.shtm

•Sustainable Food Center’s Program Replication Training http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/program-replication

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Employee Culture

•Formal and informal leaders encourage healthy social norms

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Thank You!Christina Thi, MPH, RD, LDObesity Prevention CoordinatorCommunity and Worksite Wellness Program(512) 776-6348Christina.Thi@dshs.state.tx.us