Introduction
The freshman 15 is a term that has been coined to commonly describe the inevitable
weight gain among undergraduate during their first year of college. Over the years, UC Davis
has attempted to address this phenomenon by promoting nutrition education for undergraduate
students, particularly freshman living in the dorms. Furthermore, registered dietitians have been
hired to create nutritious and well balanced meals for freshman to enjoy while eating meals in the
dining commons. Several programs have been implemented in the past to promote nutrition, such
as healthy happy apples, Meatless Mondays, and nutrition education tabling within the dining
commons. However, an area of concern is the consistent oversight regarding the convenience
stores located on campus.
Over the course six months, managers of the on campus convenience stores, Junction,
Trudy’s, and Crossroads, have taken inventory what the most and least popular sold items. The
data suggests that the most commonly consumed products are Lay’s potato chips and Ham and
Swiss sandwiches on white bread. These two items are consistently sold out at the end of each
day, while healthier alternatives are not being consumed as readily. For example, the managers
report that the fresh fruits provided are often untouched and become rotten by the end of the
week. Another healthy option that remains unpopular among students is the packaged salads. In
fact, data from the inventory shows that only 20% of salads are sold each week.
This current situation is in need of immediate change because revenue is decreasing in
these three convenience stores due to low turnover rate of the healthier option. Revenue could
also be decreasing due to the fact that unpurchased fruits need to be thrown away at the end of
the week. Additionally, UC Davis strives to promote nutrition education and healthy meals for
students, which may be lacking if the data suggests healthy options are being neglected. Two
possible interventions that can be implemented are termed “Healthy Aggies” and “Beating the
Freshman 15: Navigating the (Junction, Trudy’s or Crossroads at the respective areas).” The first
intervention will be targeted towards changing the way healthy options are currently displayed in
the convenience stores. The second intervention will be targeted towards increasing nutrition
education among undergraduate freshman.
By correcting the current problem we can increase the turnover rate of healthy options in
the convenient stores. This will have a positive effect on the university because there will be an
increase in profit and less food will go to waste. Furthermore, students will be more aware of
healthy options that are available in convenience stores and be knowledgeable in how to make
healthy choices. The following sections will discuss the specific details of the two interventions
that will need to be implemented in order for change to occur.
Problem Statement
The current problem among the three convenient stores on campus, Junction, Trudy’s,
and Crossroads, is the low turnover rate of fruits, salads, whole wheat options, and water. Data
from the inventory shows that 60% of fruit, 70% of salads, 65% of whole wheat options and 80%
of water is left over at the end of each day. The data suggests a lack of consumption of nutritious
options among undergraduate freshman that needs to be corrected.
Goal
To increase the student purchases of healthier Simply To-Go food options. This will be
implemented with two different approaches. The first approach is to move healthy alternatives in
easier accessible areas. The second approach is to provide Education counseling to all freshmen
that live in the dorms.
Health objective: By 2015, the prevalence of unhealthy food options at simply togo at The
Junction, Trudy and Crossroads will be reduced by 50%.
Behavioral objective: By 2015, 50% of Freshmen living on campus will be able to Identify
which food options at the Simply To-Go are unhealthy and which are healthy.
Process objective: In 2015, UC Davis will provide nutrition education to all incoming freshmen
and place healthy alternatives in convenient places at all Simply To-Go stations.
Intervention
Prevention Level: By providing education and changing the placement of healthier food options
in the freshman convenience stores (Junction, Trudy’s, and Crossroads) we are focusing on
primary prevention level by preventing nutritional diseases.
Intervention Type and Approaches: There are two interventions that are going to be
implemented; the first intervention taking place would be a System based intervention. This
program will be implementing a policy during Winter quarter that will change the placement of
healthier options. The Educational intervention taking place Spring quarter is a community based
intervention. Since the nutrition education program will influence the way the freshmen choose
foods through seminars held in the dorms.
Methods
Intervention 1: Move healthy alternatives in easier accessible areas
When a student arrives at the simply to go the student is allowed to pick one drink (soda
or water) one entree item and a side. Currently the dorm convenience stores places the main
entrees in the same area, meaning that healthy options and unhealthy options are of equal
convenience levels. All drinks are placed on the bottom rack, sodas and water and the fruits and
chips are placed on a cart, where the fruits are placed at the bottom rack of the cart and the chips
are placed at the top rack of the cart. The cart is currently placed near the cash register, so that
students can grab their snack during or after their payment.
It is suspected that placing the healthier entrees at eye level, will help influence the
students to choose the healthier options over their unhealthier alternatives. Meaning that during
the setup of the simply to go drink and entree products (which are typically placed inside the
refrigerator) such as salads, wheat bread sandwiches, and water are placed at eye level; where
students can easily grab the healthy food without bending down or stretching to the top shelf.
Leaving the unhealthy food choices at the top and bottom shelf of the refrigerator. This is to
create extra “work” for the students to hopefully deviate them from choosing their favorite “ham
and Swiss white bread sandwiches with coke” and choose the easy to grab option “whole-wheat
turkey and provolone and water.”
Switch the placement of the fruit and chips on the side rack next to the cashier. Where the
fruits will be placed at the top of the rack where they are of arm’s length and chips will be placed
at the bottom of the rack.
This system will be implemented during winter break before the winter quarter. So by the
beginning of winter quarter all the food placements have been changed. During Spring break
when the winter quarter has ended the placements will be placed in their original formation:
fruits placed on the bottom of the snack rack and entrees placed in a random organization in the
refrigerator.
Intervention 2: Provide Education counseling to all freshmen that live in the dorms.
The second intervention will provide nutrition education. Which will be easy to
implement since typically in the dorms the Resident Advisors are required to hold seminars for
their freshman residents. The educational seminar will be treated like every other social event in
the dorms. The Resident Advisors will promote the event in the dorms with posters on their
perspective floors with posters, which will be taken out of the RA budget.
The “Beating the Freshman 15” program will give information to the RA. The
Information will include trivia questions about select foods at the dorm convenience stores and
state, which are the healthier options. Explicitly stating which foods are healthier and why
compared to the unhealthy alternatives. During the program students will learn the benefits of
whole grain products, benefit of choosing water, and why fruits are part of a balanced diet.
Relating how by simply choosing healthy choices can prevent weight gain and chronic diseases.
Evaluation
The overall effect of both interventions can be measured by the percentage of students
choosing salads, whole wheat bread, and fruit over white bread and chips. The data collected will
be measured by taking inventory at the beginning of each day and at the end of each day. The
effectiveness of the second intervention will also measured by the student’s knowledge before
they receive nutrition information through surveys at the education event. Another survey will be
conducted again near the end of the school year to evaluate their attitude towards making
healthier choices than before the intervention.
Cost effective: Fall quarter will measure the initial amount of money wasted on fruit and salads
being thrown away. Winter & Spring quarter: Money saved on fruit and salads not being thrown
away/ money paid to convenience store employees and RA’s.
Cost efficient: Fall quarter will be the control, Winter & Spring quarter: Increase in fruit, salad,
and whole-wheat consumption/ money paid to convenience store employees and RA’s.
Coverage: The target group is the number of freshman living in the dorms. The coverage during
spring quarter will be the percent of freshman that attended the nutrition education seminar.
Where as the coverage during winter quarter would be the percent of freshmen students buying
food from the dorm convenience stores. The values will differ depending on the amount of
students that choose to go to the informational session.
Leakage: The values will differ if upper classmen or freshman not living in the dorms buy simply
to go food or the nutrition education seminar.
Efficiency: The values will differ depending on the number of dorm convenience store
employees and RA’s per freshman living in the dorms.
Permanency: It is believed that nutrition education will have a more permanent effect than the
placement of the healthier options because they will have the knowledge to look for the healthier
option regardless of placement.
Summary
By implanting these programs the university will be able to better achieve the UC Davis
mission to promote health awareness and advancement of sustainability. Ultimately, this mission
can be achieved by educating students and/or placing healthy food in more accessible areas. Both
of these interventions may lead to a higher consumption of healthier food options, resulting in
reduction of waste. It is strongly recommended that UC Davis should enforce these programs for
the upcoming 2013 fall freshmen class.