"Welcome on board" : Overall liking and just-about-right ratings of airplane meals in three different consumption contexts-laboratory, re-created airplane, and actual airplane

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of contexts on overall liking and just-about-right (JAR) ratings of airplane meals. A rice dish (meal type A) and a pasta dish (meal type B) were assessed. Per meal type, two variants were produced (variant 1 and 2). Two hundred forty-two consumers were randomly allocated to evaluate one of the four meals, first in a laboratory setting and then in a re-created airplane environment. In addition, 222 passengers did the same assessments during an actual flight. Specific meals (A1, B1) were less liked in the laboratory than in the re-created airplane. In general, no differentiation in overall liking occurred per meal type between the two tested variants in the laboratory, whereas these two variants were significantly differentiated in liking in the re-created airplane and the actual airplane. Mean overall liking ratings in the re-created airplane did not significantly differ from the mean overall liking ratings in the actual airplane. The observed JAR ratings did not differ much between the re-created airplane and the actual airplane. In summary, the re-created airplane as a testing location produced more similar test results to the actual airplane than the traditional laboratory. Practical applications: Sensory consumer testing in re-created contexts may produce results with a higher external validity than laboratory testing and therefore offer a cost-efficient alternative to extensive sensory consumer testing in real-life contexts.</p

"Welcome on board" : Overall liking and just-about-right ratings of airplane meals in three different consumption contexts-laboratory, re-created airplane, and actual airplane

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of contexts on overall liking and just-about-right (JAR) ratings of airplane meals. A rice dish (meal type A) and a pasta dish (meal type B) were assessed. Per meal type, two variants were produced (variant 1 and 2). Two hundred forty-two consumers were randomly allocated to evaluate one of the four meals, first in a laboratory setting and then in a re-created airplane environment. In addition, 222 passengers did the same assessments during an actual flight. Specific meals (A1, B1) were less liked in the laboratory than in the re-created airplane. In general, no differentiation in overall liking occurred per meal type between the two tested variants in the laboratory, whereas these two variants were significantly differentiated in liking in the re-created airplane and the actual airplane. Mean overall liking ratings in the re-created airplane did not significantly differ from the mean overall liking ratings in the actual airplane. The observed JAR ratings did not differ much between the re-created airplane and the actual airplane. In summary, the re-created airplane as a testing location produced more similar test results to the actual airplane than the traditional laboratory. Practical applications: Sensory consumer testing in re-created contexts may produce results with a higher external validity than laboratory testing and therefore offer a cost-efficient alternative to extensive sensory consumer testing in real-life contexts.</p

Changing the behaviour of children living in Dutch disadvantaged neighbourhoods to improve breakfast quality: Comparing the efficacy of three school-based strategies

Children's breakfast habits are suboptimal. A novel school-based education programme was developed and tested with the aim of improving children's attitude, knowledge and breakfast quality. A pre- and post-test design was used with four conditions: group-based education, role modelling, tailored feedback with goal setting, and a combination of these three delivery modes. Two hundred eighty children from disadvantaged communities (9.3 ± 0.8 years) participated in three lessons at school over a two-month period. Children's attitude, knowledge and breakfast behaviour were evaluated by a pre- and post-questionnaire completed by the children. A follow-up measure was executed at 24 weeks. The data were analysed by repeated measures ANOVA. At baseline, 90% of the children ate breakfast on the measurement day; 60–76% of the children ate breakfast daily. Between pre- and post-test, a significant time effect was found for children's attitude, self-efficacy, knowledge and behaviour (all p < 0.05). Children in the feedback condition improved most favourably: correct classification of breakfast products increased by 10 products (out of 44) and breakfast quality score improved by 25 points (on a 100-point scale). The feedback condition also resulted in positive changes in the home setting. The follow-up test showed a decline in children's knowledge and their breakfast quality across conditions. To conclude, this study showed that a three-lesson school programme based on individual feedback and goal setting is most effective for changing knowledge on breakfasting and self-reported breakfast quality among children aged 8–10 years living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. To maintain effectiveness, longer-term programmes embedded in the school curriculum are needed to enhance breakfast quality. Future research should explore the optimal duration and intensity of such programmes and should incorporate the topic of suitable portion sizes.</p