Doesn’t matter how you slice it, as long as it’s sliced

Want to make sure your little one eats his apple? Try slicing it! Results from a pilot study conducted by the Food and Brand Lab in eight elementary schools show that apple sales jumped by an average of 61 percent when the fruit was sliced. The percentage of students who ate more than half of their apple also increased – by 73 percent. Professor Brian Wansink, co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN Center), believe slicing fruit works so well because children love to eat fruit in ready-to-eat, bite-sized pieces, that fit easily into their little hands and mouths and don’t get stuck in braces or toothy gaps. Older children - especially girls - also prefer nibbling rather than biting into whole fruit, because the latter might appear unattractive.