What do parents and food business owners think of Kid’s menus in East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS)

Funding: EMHS 2022 – 2024

Investigators/Team: Professor Prof Gina Trapp, Samantha Veruink, Dr Matthew Cooper, Wesley Billingham, Dr Clare Whitton, Dr Roslyn Giglia,  

Summary:

This study seeks to understand the eating habits of 2–12-year-old children in cafes, restaurants, pubs, hotels, fast food/take away outlets, local sporting clubs, entertainment venues, food trucks and online meal delivery services and their use of Kids’ Menus.

A survey incorporates a novel hypothetical menu experiment, with each participant receiving two baseline menus, followed by two of nine randomised menus. Each randomised menu displays a different ‘nudge’ to try and encourage the parent and/or child to select a healthier option.

As part of this unique experiment, each hypothetical menu has been mapped against the Nuffield intervention ladder; a ladder designed to assist in the thinking about the acceptability and justification of different policy initiatives to improve public health^[1].

Anticipated Translation Impact:

Results from this study will be instrumental in guiding future research and public health initiatives to increase the availability and accessibility of healthier Kids Menu options in eating out of home venues in WA.

[1] Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2007). Public health: Ethical issues. Retrieved from: https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/assets/pdfs/Public-health-ethical-issues.pdf

Contact: Contact the Food Environments Team at FET@ecu.edu.au.

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