Dan's Plan

I am by no means an expert on love. I have, however, been married for over five years to a woman that I’ve been good friends with for over 10 years. During that time, we’ve been together through good times and bad; we’ve lived under the same roof together and we’ve lived several states apart. Through it all, I’ve learned a few things about love and relationships, of which three are below.

1. Laugh with each other. I first learned about the importance of being able to make people laugh in grade school and high school. I had a couple of friends who seemed to have no problems at all talking to girls and finding dates. When I asked what their secrets were, both conveyed a version of the answer, “just make them laugh and they’ll like you.” I’ve since come to appreciate the additional importance of being able to laugh together with people you love. Laughter is wonderful, stress relieving, and might even have real health benefits. Life is already too weird, serious, and complicated to not spend a fair amount of time laughing at all the ironies, idiosyncrasies, and just plain funny stuff that happens every day. Today, share a laugh with someone you love.

2. Cook for each other. They say that women love a man who knows how to cook, but I think the real value of being able to cook for someone runs far deeper than that. My wife has been known to say that I express my love for others through food - and she is right. Above and beyond the creative endeavor that is preparing a well-planned meal for someone, there is something special and powerful about one person providing nourishment to another. Food is a gift and it is so basic to our human existence. The preparation and giving of food to others is an expression of love. Today, share a meal with someone you love.

3. Appreciate each other. A former colleague of mine who is a clinical psychologist once told me that most relationships fall apart because people start to take each other for granted and they fail to appreciate each other the way that they should (and perhaps did at one point in time). As human beings, we are fortunate to be able to quickly acclimate to a number of different environmental conditions. That is to say that we can get used to new things pretty quickly. One thing we should never get used to, however, is the people around us and what they do for us on a daily basis. Today, tell someone who you love that you appreciate them.

Valentine’s Day is not just for romantic relationships. Today, think about all of the people you love - and don’t forget sometime to make them laugh, cook a meal for them, and tell them how much you appreciate having them in your life.

Beth, I love you. I appreciate all that you do for me. And, dinner will be ready around 6 tonight. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Earlier this week, we wrote about the new changes in the nutritional standards of the Federal school lunch program in the US. Today, we’re talking about some innovative ideas regarding behavioral and environmental changes that can also promote better, healthier choices.

Last week, Brian Wansink and David Just wrote an op-ed in the LA Times about school nutrition. However, their letter was not so much focused on nutritional standards or the macro nutrients in individual dishes so much, as it was focused on how one constructs the cafeteria and how one encourages the consumption of fruits and vegetables once they do end up on the cafeteria lunch line. So, why is this important?

Wansink and colleagues have studied different approaches to encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption in schools and they have learned a few things (that in retrospect, might not be so surprising):

1) If you simply take away choices and remove junk food from the cafeteria, kids will seek it out elsewhere.

2) Forcing kids to take healthy foods does not necessarily result in the actual consumption of those foods.

Damn, so what are we left to do? The answer: give kids a choice and use “choice architecture” to encourage the outcomes that we would like to see (i.e., greater consumption of fruits and vegetables). Ok, so what does that mean exactly? Let’s get into some of the details.

• Place fruits and vegetables at the beginning of the lunch line. People tend to fill their trays, plates, bowls, etc. and you want to give broccoli first dibs over fries.
• Make the fruits and vegetables attractive options. Arrange a nice looking fruit bowl, shine a light on it if you have one. Instead of green beans and corn, describe the options as something like “savory French-style green beans” or “rustic creamed corn.” On the flipside, don’t display the less healthy options. Ice cream can be available, but keep it in a closed freezer without a display window.
• Provide choices between vegetables. Would you like carrots or spinach? Corn or broccoli? Wansink and colleagues have shown that simply giving kids carrots without a choice resulted in 69% of them eating the carrots. However, when given the choice of either carrots or celery, 89% of children chose and ate carrots. The lesson, rather than taking away choice, use choice architecture to guide the kids’ choices. (side note: I have learned from my sister that this works for getting kids ready for bed as well: “do you want to brush your teeth OR get your pajamas on?” rather than asking about either one separately)
• Create an express line stocked with primarily healthy options. Adults are not the only ones who like to get through lines quickly. Again, Wansink and colleagues found that creating a healthy express line and including chocolate milk in that line decreased the selection of unhealthy foods from an alternative line (such as French fries and cookies) by 28% and increased healthy choices by 18%.
• In a similar vein, unhealthy options could be made “cash-only” such that lunch cards and lunch tickets could not be used for those items. The unhealthy options would still be available, but the non-financial costs of obtaining them would be greater.
• Lastly, the equipment also matters. Using smaller plates and bowls encourages smaller serving sizes and makes the same amount of food appear greater than it would on or in a larger plate or bowl. Using cafeteria trays can encourage the selection of fruit and vegetable side dishes. Think about it, with only two hands and no tray, which of the entree, beverage, or vegetable is most likely gonna be left behind?

So, if you’re interested in learning more about these strategies and the research behind them, check out this nice summary diagram of a redesigned cafeteria and Dr. Wansink’s book, Mindless Eating.

Finally, you might have already realized that there is no reason to suspect that these techniques are specific to the school cafeteria. Think about all of the ways that you can “redesign” your home environment (cupboards, kitchen, dishes, how you set the table and serve the meal) to encourage healthier choices. A few simple changes could go a long way…

Have a great weekend folks!