The College of Health and Human Development and Penn State’s Center for Food Innovation are working together to redesign the shape of a whole wheat pretzel.

It’s not an idle experiment: The redesign is part of a larger state initiative aimed at reducing obesity among Pennsylvania youth.

There is a 29.7 percent obesity rate among youth in Pennsylvania, associate hospitality management professor Peter Bordi said.

Researchers are working to “revamp” and “reformulate” foods children enjoy so they have higher nutritional value, Bordi said.

Benzel’s Pretzel Bakery, of Altoona, Pa., is developing a whole wheat pretzel, which is difficult to make because of its texture, Bordi said.

To accommodate its texture, the pretzel would have to have be shaped like a potato chip, Bordi said.

Knouse Foods, of Peach Glen, Pa., is creating new kinds of apple sauce without sugar, Bordi said.

The Center for Food Innovation will then conduct sensory testing to collect children’s feedback to these “revamped” foods.

This project is not limited to Penn State personnel — Pennsylvania school districts, food service companies, food manufacturers and the state government are also involved, Bordi said.

Researchers are also working to include innovative menu labeling systems in school cafeterias. For younger children, there would be happy and sad faces on the menus to symbolize which foods are “good” and “bad,” Bordi said.

The project is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Center for Disease Control by an $800,000 grant, Bordi said. He said he hopes it can be implemented by the 2011-2012 school year. This research is targeted at grades kindergarten through 12, Bordi said.

The Penn State dining halls have also been doing their part to make healthier choices available to students. They have made several health improvements for this year, Director of Residential Dining Lisa Wandel said.

These changes include offering two vegetables at lunch as opposed to last year’s one, having different hearty grains available like couscous and quinoa, providing smaller portion sizes and offering certain foods in halves, Wandel said.

Pre-packaged wraps, salads and fruits are also available and are in high demand at the food stores in the commons, Wandel said.

It is up for the dining halls to provide choices, Wandel said — if Penn State was to take away things like white bread and potato chips, students would just go somewhere else to find them, she said.

It is about modifying students’ behavior, not the foods available, she said.

University Health Services (UHS) is a resource available to students to help them make healthier choices.

Beth Collitt, UHS marketing manager, said there are two nutritionists on staff who can be seen by appointment.

HealthWorks, a peer education group affiliated with UHS, has done outreach programs in the cafeterias and has lobbied the administration to improve the quality of snacks available in the dining commons, Collitt said.

HealthWorks designed a cookbook with healthy recipes that can be made from simple ingredients available to all college students, Collitt said.

This cookbook can be found at the Cellar Market, located at the Horticulture Department Veggie Cellar across from the Eisenhower parking garage, Collitt said.