A free-produce stand on campus: impact on fruit and vegetable intake in Dutch university students

Abstract

Objective:To investigate the effects of providing free fruit and snack vegetables at a university on students’ fruit intake, snack vegetable intake and total vegetable intake.Design:Free fruit and raw snack vegetables (e.g. bite-sized tomatoes) were provided in a stand in the form of a miniature wooden house located in the central hall of the university’s main building, which students regularly pass through on their way to lectures and the cafeteria. Three interventions tested with a pre-test/post-test design were performed. In these three interventions, small changes to the appearance of the stand were made, such as placing potted plants around it. Demographic characteristics and fruit and vegetable intakes were assessed with questionnaires.Setting:A Dutch university of applied science.Participants:Intervention 1 included 124 students; Intervention 2 included ninety-two students; Intervention 3 included 237 students.Results:Longitudinal linear regression analyses showed that post-test snack vegetable intake was consistently higher compared with pre-test. In the three interventions, post-test snack vegetable intakes were between 11 and 14 g/d higher than at the pre-test, which is comparable to three bite-sized tomatoes. No differences in fruit intake or total vegetable intake were found. Subgroup analyses showed that, in all three interventions, students with the lowest pre-test fruit intake and total vegetable intake reported the largest increase in fruit intake and snack vegetable intake after the interventions.Conclusions:Providing free fruit and vegetables to students at their university might be beneficial for those with low habitual intakes.

Vegetable interventions at unconventional occasions: the effect of freely available snack vegetables at workplace meetings on consumption

“…Simply providing the healthy snacks to employees or students, assessing what happens to them (e.g. consumed or left) can show the facilitating factor of availability on consumption (Jago et al , 2007; Van den Bogerd et al , 2020). Most vegetable consumption occurs at lunch or dinner (Reinders et al , 2016).…”

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Barriers to Their Consumption among University Students in Kuwait: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Many intervention approaches may improve college students' dietary habits, including those conducted using in-person, online, or environmental/pointof-purchase messages [49]. For example, in the Netherlands, providing free fruit and vegetables to students at their university was beneficial for those with low habitual intakes [50]. Ha and Caine-Bish [51] used a nutrition course as an intervention for promoting F/V intake among students at Midwestern university aged 18-24 years, whereby the intervention focused on nutrition knowledge related to the prevention of chronic diseases, healthful dietary choices increasing F/V consumption, dietary feedback, and interactive hands-on activities.…”

Inventarisatie voedseleducatie 18-24 jarigen in en rond de onderwijssetting : Voedingsinterventies vanuit wetenschap en praktijk gericht op duurzaam en gezond voedingsgedrag

“…Een andere Nederlandse interventie op het HBO liet zien dat gratis groente en fruit aanbieden via een stand effectief was om met name de consumptie van snackgroente te verhogen, voornamelijk bij de deelnemers die al een lage inname hadden. Deze interventie had geen effect op de fruitinname of totale groente-inname (Van Den Bogerd et al, 2020). Een Amerikaanse universiteitsstudie liet zien dat het toevoegen van groenterijke hoofdgerechten aan het menu en de introductie van een gezonde snack-hoek in de kantine deels effectief was (op sommige dagen) in het stimuleren van de groentekeuze (Bevet et al, 2018).…”

“…Het aanbod veranderen (Bevet et al, 2018;Van Den Bogerd et al, 2020;van Kleef et al, 2020) was in alle gevallen (deels) effectief. Informatie verstrekken in de kantine om gezonde keuzes te stimuleren was soms wel, soms niet effectief.…”

“…Een Nederlandse studie op het HBO laat zien dat compensatiegedrag een reële optie is. De interventie verhoogde de inname van snackgroenten, maar dit leidde niet tot een toename in totale groenteconsumptie op een dag (Van Den Bogerd et al, 2020). Toekomstig onderzoek zou dus kunnen onderzoeken hoe interventies op en rond school het eetgedrag in de thuissituatie beïnvloeden.…”