EVALUATION OF CUSTOMERS PERSPECTIVES ON THE HEARTBEAT AWARD SCHEME INPUBLIC EATING PLACES

The Heartbeat Award (HBA) scheme was launched in England in 1990 by th e Health Education Authority (HEA). The HBA is given to a catering est ablishment if there are ''healthy'' food choices available, a nonsmoki ng area, and good standards of food hygiene. This paper describes an e valuation of the customers' perspectives oi the HBA scheme in 11 publi c eating places. A total of 271 completed questionnaires were analyzed . Just over half oi the customers (n = 144; 53%) did not know that the establishment had received the HBA. Even more respondents (n = 183; 6 7.5%) were unaware of the three main criteria of the award and 224 (82 .7%) were unaware that menus had been assessed by a dietitian. Fourtee n percent (n = 39) of the sample incorrectly believed that the HBA imp lied that all food choices were healthy choices. Women and those aged greater than or equal to 45 years had greater awareness of the HBA sch eme. Most customers who knew about the scheme did not choose the estab lishment because it had a HBA (n = 117; 92.3%). Customers want healthy food choices to be available but this does not influence their choice of establishment. There is a need for greater promotion of the scheme on national and local levels to raise awareness.