As an architect and environmental psychologist, Kim Rollings, an assistant professor of architecture and psychology at Notre Dame University, says she was “interested in how the design of cafeteria spaces could support the implementation of healthier eating.”
Rollings’ curiosity led her and her colleague from Cornell University to publish CAFES (Cafeteria Assessment for Elementary Schools), a body of research accompanied by a tool that helps K-12 operators assess a cafeteria’s physical space and see how they can modify it to encourage healthier eating.
The CAFES tool, which will soon be accompanied by a free app, analyzes, scores and offers suggestions about interior design, furniture, lunch trays and the food items themselves.
Based on her research, Rollings shares with FSD four changes operators can make to their cafeterias to help promote healthy eating.
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