Promoting healthy drink choices at school by means of assortment changes and traffic light coding: A field study

Although there is widespread agreement about the need to reduce teenagers’ consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, banning these drinks from the school environment is not always feasible. In this paper, we tested whether increasing the assortment of healthier alternatives and clearly labelling them as healthy by means of traffic light coding qualifies as an alternative approach to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages at school. In a field study, we tripled the assortment of healthy (‘green’) and relatively healthy (‘amber’) drinks and kept the assortment of sugar-sweetened (‘red’) drinks constant during five intervention weeks in two treatment Belgian schools. Compared to baseline and to an untreated control school, we found that the relative market share of red beverages dropped by more than 30 percentage points. In one school, this market share was taken by both green and amber drinks, while in the other school, only the consumption of amber drinks increased. We suggest that this easily applicable intervention circumvents some of the friction that accompanies banning sugar-sweetened drinks

Elemental and supramolecular diversity of nanoporous phthalocyanine crystals

Phthalocyanines (Pcs) have a wide variety of applications as colorants, photodynamic therapeutics, photovoltaic materials, catalysts etc. Pcs tend to co-facially aggregate due to the π – π interactions between their aromatic macrocycles, which may hinder certain applications. The insertion of 2,6-di-iso-propylphenoxy substituents at the peripheral sites of the Pc [(dipPhO)8Pc] proved successful in preventing aggregation between the macrocycles while the bulky substituents created accessible voids towards the active metal centre. Upon crystallisation of various metal (dipPhO)8Pc derivatives, clathrates with an interesting cubic structure, where the volume occupied by the crystallisation solvent amounts to around 40% of the unit cell, were obtained. Suitably sized bidentate ligands act as wall-ties to stabilise the crystal structure upon removal of the solvents that otherwise would cause loss of crystallinity. We have found that there is an astonishing range of metal cations, axial ligands and molecular wall-ties that are compatible with the formation of the porous crystal. Preliminary data using a gas cell for the in-situ analysis of O2, NO and CO binding to the metal cation will be reported. In addition, the co-crystallisation of (dipPhO)8Pc with tetraphenyl porphyrin (H2TPP) and the in-situ incorporation of bidentate ligands and of metals in the macrocycle of the TPP will be demonstrated

Investigating the effect of childhood socioeconomic background on interpersonal trust: Lower childhood socioeconomic status predicts lower levels of trust

Trust is the foundation of human relationships, therefore, understanding its determinants is of utmost importance. In line with recent findings we predict that one factor influencing the individual levels of trust is childhood socioeconomic background. Childhood socioeconomic background has been found to be a key determinant of various behaviors in adulthood as it directs individuals to adopt specific large clusters of behavioral traits often referred to as life-history strategies. In two studies, we show that childhood socioeconomic background is associated with social trust through the adoption of different life-history strategies. In the first study, we establish the link between childhood socioeconomic background and trust and we show that the relationship is mediated by the adoption of different life-history strategies. In the second study, we analyze the data of General Social Survey to replicate the finding in a large sample and provide some initial evidence of two potential moderators of the relationship, sense of control and resource scarcity

A dual-process model of decision-making: The symmetric effect of intuitive and cognitive judgments on optimal budget allocation.

Understanding the influence of a dual-processing system on budget waste resulting from choice inconsistencies is critical in helping individuals maximize decision utility. In 2 studies, we rely on the generalized axiom of revealed preferences to explore the severity of choice inconsistencies resulting from intuitive and cognitive judgments separately, as well as overall severity across the 2 types of judgments. We focus on choice inconsistency that leads to the inefficient use of individuals’ budget and not on the simple preference divergence that may result from the 2 types of judgments. We find that budget waste resulting from intuitive and cognitive judgments is comparable but that overall budget waste across the 2 types of judgments is significantly higher. These findings suggest that the inconsistency in choices resulting from intuitive versus cognitive judgments is responsible for significant loss of decision utility in individuals’ economic decisions, rather than choice inconsistencies resulting from a specific type of evaluation in itself. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings

A Dual-Process Model of Economic Rationality: The Symmetric Effect of Hot and Cold Evaluations on Economic Decision Making

Understanding the influence of a dual-processing system on economic rationality of consumers is critical in helping them maximize the utility of their decisions. In two studies we explore economic rationality of choices based on “hot” and “cold” evaluations, as well as the overall rationality across both types of evaluations. We find that rationality levels of “hot” and “cold” evaluations are high and comparable, but the overall rationality level across both types of evaluations is significantly lower. We conclude that the discrepancy between the “hot” and “cold” evaluations is responsible for significant loss of utility in consumers’ economic decisions, rather than a specific type of evaluation (“hot” versus “cold”) in itself. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings

A Dual-Process Model of Economic Rationality: The Symmetric Effect of Hot and Cold Evaluations on Economic Decision Making

We explore the budget waste coming from inconsistent choices triggered by “hot” and “cold” evaluations, as well as the overall budget waste across both types of evaluations. We find that budget waste coming from “hot” and “cold” evaluations is comparable, but the overall waste of budget across the two types of evaluations is significantly higher

An evaluation of the COVID-19 pandemic and perceived social distancing policies in relation to planning, selecting, and preparing healthy meals: an observational study in 38 countries worldwide

Objectives: To examine changes in planning, selecting, and preparing healthy foods in relation to personal factors (time, money, stress) and social distancing policies during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: Using cross-sectional online surveys collected in 38 countries worldwide in April-June 2020 (N = 37,207, Mage 36.7 SD 14.8, 77% women), we compared changes in food literacy behaviors to changes in personal factors and social distancing policies, using hierarchical multiple regression analyses controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Increases in planning (4.7 SD 1.3, 4.9 SD 1.3), selecting (3.6 SD 1.7, 3.7 SD 1.7), and preparing (4.6 SD 1.2, 4.7 SD 1.3) healthy foods were found for women and men, and positively related to perceived time availability and stay-at-home policies. Psychological distress was a barrier for women, and an enabler for men. Financial stress was a barrier and enabler depending on various sociodemographic variables (all p < 0.01). Conclusion: Stay-at-home policies and feelings of having more time during COVID-19 seem to have improved food literacy. Stress and other social distancing policies relate to food literacy in more complex ways, highlighting the necessity of a health equity lens

A Multilab Replication of the Ego Depletion Effect

There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment. Data from 12 labs across the globe (N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After excluding participants who might have responded randomly during the outcome task, the effect size increased to d = 0.16. By adding an informative, unbiased data point to the literature, our findings contribute to clarifying the existence, size, and generality of ego depletion

Call for emergency action to restore dietary diversity and protect global food systems in times of COVID-19 and beyond: Results from a cross-sectional study in 38 countries

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of the global food system, sending shockwaves across countries\u27 societies and economy. This has presented formidable challenges to sustaining a healthy and resilient lifestyle. The objective of this study is to examine the food consumption patterns and assess diet diversity indicators, primarily focusing on the food consumption score (FCS), among households in 38 countries both before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 37 207 participants (mean age: 36.70 ± 14.79, with 77 % women) was conducted in 38 countries through an online survey administered between April and June 2020. The study utilized a pre-tested food frequency questionnaire to explore food consumption patterns both before and during the COVID-19 periods. Additionally, the study computed Food Consumption Score (FCS) as a proxy indicator for assessing the dietary diversity of households. Findings: This quantification of global, regional and national dietary diversity across 38 countries showed an increment in the consumption of all food groups but a drop in the intake of vegetables and in the dietary diversity. The household\u27s food consumption scores indicating dietary diversity varied across regions. It decreased in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, including Lebanon (p \u3c 0.001) and increased in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries including Bahrain (p = 0.003), Egypt (p \u3c 0.001) and United Arab Emirates (p = 0.013). A decline in the household\u27s dietary diversity was observed in Australia (p \u3c 0.001), in South Africa including Uganda (p \u3c 0.001), in Europe including Belgium (p \u3c 0.001), Denmark (p = 0.002), Finland (p \u3c 0.001) and Netherland (p = 0.027) and in South America including Ecuador (p \u3c 0.001), Brazil (p \u3c 0.001), Mexico (p \u3c 0.0001) and Peru (p \u3c 0.001). Middle and older ages [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.125–1.426] [OR = 2.5; 95 % CI = [1.951–3.064], being a woman [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.117–1.367], having a high education (p \u3c 0.001), and showing amelioration in food-related behaviors [OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = [1.292–1.709] were all linked to having a higher dietary diversity. Conclusion: The minor to moderate changes in food consumption patterns observed across the 38 countries within relatively short time frames could become lasting, leading to a significant and prolonged reduction in dietary diversity, as demonstrated by our findings

A dual system perspective of time orientation.

nrpages: 123status: publishe