About MENU Choices

What is MENU Choices?

MENU Choices is a website designed to offer ideas and support for you if you are interested in gaining the benefits that can come with eating well and making changes in some of your food choices.

The goal of MENU Choices is to encourage effective food choices. This means increasing daily intake of fruits and vegetables, switching to foods containing whole grains, and reducing sweetened drinks. This project is in line with National Institutes of Health (NIH) goals to improve people's health by supporting a healthy lifestyle.

What Makes MENU Choices Unique?

There’s a lot of information about nutrition on the internet. But everyone’s different, and we know that a one-size-fits-all approach to healthy eating just won’t cut it. That’s why MENU Choices offers more than just suggestions and information on ways to:

  • Increase healthy choices for foods
  • Shop for fruits and vegetables (and save money!)
  • Cook healthy foods
  • Improve your “know how” for why and how to eat well

We teamed up with the University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research (CHCR) to bring you a website that is designed just for you.

How does it work?

We’ve opened up MENU Choices so anyone can explore information, recipes, strategies, and videos that can help them come up with great ideas for eating healthy. But to make the information more personal—just for you—you can create an account and answer some questions in the profile survey.

When you first create a MENU Choices account, you’ll answer questions about:

  • Foods you like
  • Some of your current eating habits
  • Your motivation to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
  • Things that get in your way when it comes to eating healthfully

After you complete your profile survey, we will use your answers to make sure you see information that is relevant to you. That means instead of getting generic tips about healthy eating, you’ll get information and suggestions with your needs in mind.

What is an eCoach?

Originally, the MENU Choices study offered a support connection with a coach who exchanged questions and ideas with participants via email.

We discovered in our evaluation that this feature really made a positive difference. Emailing with the coach:

  • Helped people decide for themselves what behavior changes would work better in their own lives
  • Helped people identify values and motivations around eating better

We are offering this support option for FREE when you create an account with MENU Choices. To connect with an eCoach, create an account, click on “My Profile” at the top-right corner, and check the box that says you would like to be contacted by an eCoach. You can turn this bonus feature on or off at any time.

Who created MENU Choices?

MENU Choices was an online intervention funded by the NIH/NICHD for the testing and evaluation phase. The MENU Choices program was created through the collaboration of health researchers at the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI; Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA; and University of Michigan Center for Health Communication Research, Ann Arbor, MI. Funding extends from 2012–2017.

  • Henry Ford Health System, Department of Public Health Sciences, PI Gwen L. Alexander, PhD.
  • Geisinger Health System, Geisinger Center for Health Research, Co-Investigator Margaret Rukstalis, MD
  • University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research, Director and Co-Investigator Lawrence An, MD, and Co-Investigator Kenneth Resnicow, PhD.
  • Zonya Foco, RD, CHFI, CSP is an advisor and contributor to the MENU Choices study. Videos and recipes from her book Likety-Split Meals were created by Zonya. You can learn more about Zonya and her other books and video seminars at Zonya.com

Are you giving any medical advice in MENU Choices?

The information, data, behavioral recommendations, and materials available through MENU Choices are not - nor are they intended to be - a medical evaluation, advice, consultation, or treatment. 

We recommend that you talk to your physician or other healthcare provider for all medical and health-related matters.

Will my information be kept confidential?

All of the information you give us will be kept private and confidential. We will not release your email address to anyone outside of the MENU Choices team.

Where else is MENUChoices.org being promoted?

Check out this short article on prepping healthful meals using recipes from MENUChoices.org, available in the Society of Behavioral Medicine “Healthy Living” section

What Internet browsers can I use to view MENU Choices?

MENU Choices can be accessed via any of the following Internet browsers, but is best viewed in Safari or Chrome:

  • Internet Explorer 9 and above
  • Safari 5.0 and above
  • Mozilla Firefox 6 and above
  • Chrome