congratulations on your project, it is an interesting way to get healthier. could you please detail how does the tool nudge children to get a right portion to eat? how do they change their nutritional behavior through it? are you planning to implement it on cafeteria/restaurants, for instancem, in a way to turn it to a systematic way to nudge people to have a right portion of food?
thank you in advance and good luck with the competition,
regards,
Elenice
Ashoka´s Changemakers
Thanks for reviewing our entry! Love to get feedback! The tableware, or kit, nudges kids by physically limiting the amount of food they can fit into each section on the plate, cup, bowl, etc. If you try to put in more, it spills out! By trial and error, using these tools at every meal and snack, kids learn what the right sized portions look like. I love the idea of implementing this in cafeterias and especially restaurants- where too big portions are always a problem. Thanks again for your comment, hope I answered your question...eileen
thank you for responding the question, amazing way to learn the correct portion to eat! I always liked to eat a lot of vegetables (yes, when I was a kid) and sometimes sth that could control it, would be perfect! Let me ask you just one more question: i agree with you that every meal with the tool can teaches the kid to have the right portion/healthier food of everything and this will help them to change their behavior. But how parents are engaged in this process, besides stimulate them to use the tool, in terms of having a health meal? For example, when i was a kid, i always paid attention of what my parents were having and i had them as a model. So, when i use the kid, it is implicit that parents do the same, right? Otherwise we don´t have a cycle of behavior change. Just a thought!
Keep our online community posted about your inspiring project, its impact!
This is a really neat idea. I never in my wildest dreams would have figured that dinner could be an educational experience. What’s better is that using bright colors like the one’s you’ve used, kids will really get into it from an early age and learn about the proper elements and portions of a meal.
Having one plate for protein, one plate for carbs etc. is a nice way to get kids into food as well. At times, feeding the kids can be a bit of a chore, but with this, you can sort of entertain them as well, getting them to match food to plates and say what’s missing from the meal and letting them figure out the right amounts ‘on the first go’. Now, all they need to do is do something like this at the school cafeteria…
Dear Eileen - I can certainly see how this tool would help parents with portion control and enable them to direct a child to pick healthier alternatives to feel satisfied (e.g. an apple instead of another slice of pizza). The visual component in eating is not addressed often. As an adult I've seen diet tips suggesting using small plates to make a meal look more substantial, but I haven't seen anything that addresses children until I read your proposal. Good luck! Maybe this idea can extend to school cafeteria trays too.
(Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I have two children (ages 3 & 5) and had to put my project aside for a little bit.)
Dear Eileen - I can certainly see how this tool would help parents with portion control and enable them to direct a child to pick healthier alternatives to feel satisfied (e.g. an apple instead of another slice of pizza). The visual component in eating is not addressed often. As an adult I've seen diet tips suggesting using small plates to make a meal look more substantial, but I haven't seen anything that addresses children until I read your proposal. Good luck! Maybe this idea can extend to school cafeteria trays too.
Sorry it took so long for me to respond to you. I have two children (ages 5 & 3) and had to set aside my project for a little bit. Sincerely, Veronica
Thanks Veronica. It was great to get your feedback. As a mom of two small children, I'm sure you've had lots of experience with choosing "right" portions, especially of fruits & vegetables. I love your idea of cafeteria trays! What a great addition! Eileen
Good to hear from you! To answer your question- parents are directly engaged. They are the food "gatekeepers", meaning they are the ones purchasing the food. Therefore, they will get a better sense of what groceries to buy (meaning more fruits/vegetables compared to meats for example). Initially, they will most likely be assisting kids with loading their plates (or at least "checking"), and of course they will probably be the ones "cleaning up" if kids overload their plates! Through this "hands on" experience, they will learn how to load their plates appropriately too. Again, I hope that's helpful. Eileen
On May 11, 2009, the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” competition and would like to pass on the following feedback (listed below) for your entry. Thank you for applying and for your hard work in the field. We are excited to archive your entry to serve as a leading solution for the worldwide community of innovators who are seeking solutions that help people make better choices regarding their health and the health of others. We wish you continued luck with your innovative, sustainable, and socially impactful initiatives.
All the best, The Changemakers Team
“Definitely a nudge! This is an excellent way of programming healthy choices in kids. Can you explain a little more about your strategy to accommodate for at-risk youth with less access to technology? Great idea for having available visual cues for each meal. It does seem like an eventual mass market commercial product opportunity if you partner with the right manufacturer.”
“There are some similar initiatives underway right now that you may be interested in consulting. See for example, http://thedietplate.com/. Perhaps there is a way to combine efforts and collaborate on an ultimate solution?”
- Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” Judges: Doutores da Alegria, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cornell Food and Brand Lab: Cornell University, Innovations in Health @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Pediatrics: University of California San Francisco.
Hi Fran, thanks for your feedback. I'm sorry my response is so late, I didn't realized we were still able to get comments. Your advice is right on target, we would love to find the right manufacturer to partner with, or even collaborate w/a similar product. Right now, we're finding that process to be very difficult as we are not manufacturers (and have no connections to any similar fields). We're working on it! Your other comment was about reaching at-risk kids. It was always our dream to find a partner for manufacturing that would allow us to donate a percentage of the kits to at-risk kids. In this way, we could provide the on-site education/training to these kids and families, and more importantly, we might be able to further measure the effectiveness of our intervention. I hope that answers your questions. Please, please feel free to give us any other advice or feedback and I promise to respond promptly! Thanks again, Eileen
At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
Comments
Dear Eileen,
congratulations on your project, it is an interesting way to get healthier. could you please detail how does the tool nudge children to get a right portion to eat? how do they change their nutritional behavior through it? are you planning to implement it on cafeteria/restaurants, for instancem, in a way to turn it to a systematic way to nudge people to have a right portion of food?
thank you in advance and good luck with the competition,
regards,
Elenice
Ashoka´s Changemakers
Thanks for reviewing our entry! Love to get feedback! The tableware, or kit, nudges kids by physically limiting the amount of food they can fit into each section on the plate, cup, bowl, etc. If you try to put in more, it spills out! By trial and error, using these tools at every meal and snack, kids learn what the right sized portions look like. I love the idea of implementing this in cafeterias and especially restaurants- where too big portions are always a problem. Thanks again for your comment, hope I answered your question...eileen
Dear Eileen,
thank you for responding the question, amazing way to learn the correct portion to eat! I always liked to eat a lot of vegetables (yes, when I was a kid) and sometimes sth that could control it, would be perfect! Let me ask you just one more question: i agree with you that every meal with the tool can teaches the kid to have the right portion/healthier food of everything and this will help them to change their behavior. But how parents are engaged in this process, besides stimulate them to use the tool, in terms of having a health meal? For example, when i was a kid, i always paid attention of what my parents were having and i had them as a model. So, when i use the kid, it is implicit that parents do the same, right? Otherwise we don´t have a cycle of behavior change. Just a thought!
Keep our online community posted about your inspiring project, its impact!
all the best,
Elenice
Ashoka´s Changemakers
This is a really neat idea. I never in my wildest dreams would have figured that dinner could be an educational experience. What’s better is that using bright colors like the one’s you’ve used, kids will really get into it from an early age and learn about the proper elements and portions of a meal.
Having one plate for protein, one plate for carbs etc. is a nice way to get kids into food as well. At times, feeding the kids can be a bit of a chore, but with this, you can sort of entertain them as well, getting them to match food to plates and say what’s missing from the meal and letting them figure out the right amounts ‘on the first go’. Now, all they need to do is do something like this at the school cafeteria…
Dear Eileen - I can certainly see how this tool would help parents with portion control and enable them to direct a child to pick healthier alternatives to feel satisfied (e.g. an apple instead of another slice of pizza). The visual component in eating is not addressed often. As an adult I've seen diet tips suggesting using small plates to make a meal look more substantial, but I haven't seen anything that addresses children until I read your proposal. Good luck! Maybe this idea can extend to school cafeteria trays too.
(Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I have two children (ages 3 & 5) and had to put my project aside for a little bit.)
Dear Eileen - I can certainly see how this tool would help parents with portion control and enable them to direct a child to pick healthier alternatives to feel satisfied (e.g. an apple instead of another slice of pizza). The visual component in eating is not addressed often. As an adult I've seen diet tips suggesting using small plates to make a meal look more substantial, but I haven't seen anything that addresses children until I read your proposal. Good luck! Maybe this idea can extend to school cafeteria trays too.
Sorry it took so long for me to respond to you. I have two children (ages 5 & 3) and had to set aside my project for a little bit. Sincerely, Veronica
Thanks Veronica. It was great to get your feedback. As a mom of two small children, I'm sure you've had lots of experience with choosing "right" portions, especially of fruits & vegetables. I love your idea of cafeteria trays! What a great addition! Eileen
Good to hear from you! To answer your question- parents are directly engaged. They are the food "gatekeepers", meaning they are the ones purchasing the food. Therefore, they will get a better sense of what groceries to buy (meaning more fruits/vegetables compared to meats for example). Initially, they will most likely be assisting kids with loading their plates (or at least "checking"), and of course they will probably be the ones "cleaning up" if kids overload their plates! Through this "hands on" experience, they will learn how to load their plates appropriately too. Again, I hope that's helpful. Eileen
On May 11, 2009, the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” competition and would like to pass on the following feedback (listed below) for your entry. Thank you for applying and for your hard work in the field. We are excited to archive your entry to serve as a leading solution for the worldwide community of innovators who are seeking solutions that help people make better choices regarding their health and the health of others. We wish you continued luck with your innovative, sustainable, and socially impactful initiatives.
All the best, The Changemakers Team
“Definitely a nudge! This is an excellent way of programming healthy choices in kids. Can you explain a little more about your strategy to accommodate for at-risk youth with less access to technology? Great idea for having available visual cues for each meal. It does seem like an eventual mass market commercial product opportunity if you partner with the right manufacturer.”
“There are some similar initiatives underway right now that you may be interested in consulting. See for example, http://thedietplate.com/. Perhaps there is a way to combine efforts and collaborate on an ultimate solution?”
- Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” Judges: Doutores da Alegria, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cornell Food and Brand Lab: Cornell University, Innovations in Health @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Pediatrics: University of California San Francisco.
Hi Fran, thanks for your feedback. I'm sorry my response is so late, I didn't realized we were still able to get comments. Your advice is right on target, we would love to find the right manufacturer to partner with, or even collaborate w/a similar product. Right now, we're finding that process to be very difficult as we are not manufacturers (and have no connections to any similar fields). We're working on it! Your other comment was about reaching at-risk kids. It was always our dream to find a partner for manufacturing that would allow us to donate a percentage of the kits to at-risk kids. In this way, we could provide the on-site education/training to these kids and families, and more importantly, we might be able to further measure the effectiveness of our intervention. I hope that answers your questions. Please, please feel free to give us any other advice or feedback and I promise to respond promptly! Thanks again, Eileen
At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
www.alistrol.com/
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