An Exercise in Active Learning: Identifying Healthy Food Options on a Historically Black College or University Campus Using the Traffic Light System

Background: One focus of Healthy People 2015-2020 is workplace wellness, including collegecampuses. As children age, more food choices are made outside of the home away from parentalinfluence, which may pose significant challenges to healthy eating. Students are exposed to anenvironment with unhealthy food choices making healthy food decisions difficult. Nutrition labels areoften confusing and difficult to understand. Thus, students are more likely to abandon the use of asystem that is not simple and clear. Traffic Light System (TLS) uses traffic-light colors to interpret forthe consumer if the amounts of specific nutrients found in the product are “high”, medium”, or “low”.The purpose of this study was to engage undergraduate food and nutritional sciences students toanalyze menus from college dining facilities and to create a handout of healthy menu options in diningfacilities on a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) using a modified TLS.Methods: Junior and senior level food and nutritional sciences students participated in an activelearning exercise in the spring of 2017. The students accessed nutritional information from the campusdining facility. The students then created a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to analyze the menus formacronutrient composition (total energy, total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, fiber andsodium). The percent energy contributed by the macronutrients was then calculated. The studentsthen colored coded the menu items from the six retail-dining facilities based on percentage of energyfrom total fat (green <30%; amber 30-40%; red <40%) using a modified TLS.Results: From the six dining facilities: 22.75% of menu items were “green” (primarily condiments), 9%“amber and 69% “red”. Due to lack of “green” menu items, we increased the criteria to < 35% kcal totalfat to include on an easy to read handout.Conclusion: Food and nutritional sciences students were able to engage in an active learning exercisethat developed nutritional computation skills as well as computer skills. The students found healthyoptions are available on campus at each of the dining facilities; however, most students, faculty andstaff may not aware. The handout the students have created is used for educating student athletesduring team nutrition meetings, health fairs as handouts and during on campus conferences as part ofnutrition education. Future studies will focus how to continue to engage in active or experientiallearning while increasing promotion of healthy choices on and off campus for an HBCU community.