Using Healthy Defaults in Walt Disney World Restaurants to Improve Nutritional Choices

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Food Service Management

Background:

• Childhood obesity remains a significant public health concern.
• Dietary habits established in childhood often persist into adulthood.
• Theme park dining presents unique challenges and opportunities for promoting healthy eating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptance rates of healthy default sides and beverages in children's meals.
• To compare acceptance rates between quick-service and table-service restaurant formats.
• To quantify the nutritional impact of healthy defaults on children's meal selections.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of purchase data from 145 Walt Disney World restaurants.
• Utilized log-linear models and Poisson regression for data analysis.
• Examined acceptance of healthy default sides and beverages in kids' meals.

Main Results:

• Overall acceptance rates for healthy default sides and beverages were 47.9% and 66.3%, respectively.
• Higher acceptance rates were observed in quick-service restaurants (49.4% sides, 67.8% beverages) compared to table-service (40.3% sides, 45.6% beverages).
• Healthy defaults led to significant reductions in calories (21.4%), fat (43.9%), and sodium (43.4%).

Conclusions:

• Healthy default options in kids' meals are widely accepted by theme park patrons.
• Restaurant format (quick-service vs. table-service) influences the acceptance of healthy defaults.
• Implementing healthy defaults is an effective strategy for improving the nutritional quality of children's meals in large-scale food service settings.