College of Health

We examined how slicing apples and oranges affected elementary students' selection and consumption of fruit. Slicing increased the percentage of children selecting and consuming oranges, while a similar effect was not found for apples. The impact of slicing fruit was greatest among younger students. These findings suggest that school cafeterias can increase accessibility and consumption of foods through simple, inexpensive food preparation techniques, with the impact of such measures varying by foods and student characteristics.