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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #98: Using architecture to promote healthy eating

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This week's "food for thought" excerpt comes from Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being (2020), by Lloyd Minor, MD, with Matthew Rees.

“[Stanford University] has implemented a form of behavioral economics known as food choice architecture. . . . [I]t involves making subtle changes to encourage healthier consumption. In the buffet-style arrangements that are common in Stanford dining halls, healthy options are placed in the locations that diners are most likely to encounter first, thus making it more likely that they will choose those foods. Similarly, Stanford has reduced the size of the bowls and plates that are used in dining halls—building on the studies showing that when people are given smaller dishes, they tend to consume smaller portions of food. Trays have been eliminated from dining halls—another way of encouraging less consumption. Stanford has also sought to treat dining halls as more than simply places where one goes to eat. Arrillaga Family Dining Commons, which is one of the largest dining halls on campus, features classes on a variety of topics, from the basics of cooking to the science behind cuisine (taught by a chemistry professor). There are also exercise rooms, a garden, and even a beehive.”