Psychological Effects of Color and Line Thickness of Dish Rims on Visual Palatability of Meals among Individuals with Low Vision

Background/Aims: Cooking and eating for dietary control is difficult for individuals with low vision. A dish rim line thickness of 8 mm has been shown to be the most effective universal design (UCD).The present study examined the psychological effects of a combination of dish rim line and background colors on the visual palatability of meals among individuals with low vision. Methods: The participants of this study were 80 university students who were sat in front of an LCD screen in which a meal tray with dishes having a rim line thickness of 8 mm was projected. Five dish types (rice, one main dish, two side dishes and pickles) were placed on top of the tray. After observing the samples, the participants answered a questionnaire. The results were then compared between two groups: a low vision group, in which the participants wore glasses to simulate low vision, and a healthy group, in which participants did not wear the simulation glasses. Results: The images and visibility for each dish rim line thickness were defined by the SD method using 12 antonymic adjective pairs. The factors of 'comfort' and 'activity' were extracted using factor analysis. In addition, the examination of the combination of color schemes in a universal design showed that purple edging with a dark grayish tone was highly evaluated for all tray colors. Meanwhile, orange in a bright tone and yellow in a pale tone were found to be useful for improving visibility and comfort, respectively. Conclusions: Combination of color and line thickness of dish rim and tray color affected visual palatability of meals in people with diabetes.