Changes in the nutritional content of children's lunches after the Food Dudes healthy eating programme

Abstract

Previous research into the effectiveness of healthy eating programmes has shown increases in healthful eating behaviour in primary schools; however, data collection methods have not been sufficiently sensitive to detect micronutrient changes. The present study extends the literature by measuring individual children's intake of macro- and micronutrients at lunchtime, before and after a programme targeting children's consumption of fruit and vegetables, to identify evidence-based health benefits of programme participation. Baseline data were collected over 4 d at lunchtime in two primary schools. The Food Dudes programme was then implemented in the intervention school. Follow-up data were collected over 4 d in each school 2 months after baseline. We employed a validated and sensitive photographic method to estimate individual children's (N 112) consumption of fruit, vegetables, and their intake of calories, macro- and selected micronutrients. Significant changes were observed in the intervention school but not in the control school: Children's consumption of fruit, vegetables, vitamin C and E intake increased, while their total energy consumption, fat, saturated fat, and sodium intake decreased. The present results show that the Food Dudes programme produced a positive nutritional change, with implications for its application as a healthy eating and obesity prevention intervention. These optimistic conclusions should be tested by further research to establish the longevity of the positive effects presented here.

Interventions based on sensory‐hedonic strategies and on nudging to facilitate vegetable and pulses consumption in the school environment

“…Incentivizing children to eat plant‐based foods is a common approach used in school‐based interventions, with most studies providing positive effects in promoting vegetables; however, no intervention promoting pulses was identified. Thirteen out of the 16 studies identified reported that incentives such as small prizes (Birnbaum et al., 2002; de Marchi et al., 2020; Hendy et al., 2007; Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021), raffle tickets (Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020), virtual currencies (Joyner et al., 2017), and stationery (Horne et al., 2009) increased children's liking, acceptance, willingness to try, and intake of vegetables. Incentives were commonly used together with modeling and education, with most of the interventions reporting positive effects (Birnbaum et al., 2002; Horne et al., 2009; Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020; McCormick et al., 2009; Presti et al., 2015; Song et al., 2016a; Wengreen et al., 2021, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021), except from one intervention targeting children with autism, in which no significant effect was reported (Taylor, Upton et al., 2013); however, results from the latter could be attributed to the small sample size ( n = 12) or the special needs of the children.…”

“…Two interventions that used role modeling showed a positive effect in increasing vegetable intake with one of them also decreasing vegetable waste among children and pre‐adolescents (Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020). Multicomponent interventions using cartoon characters targeting children and pre‐adolescents reported different effects, with two resulting in an increased vegetable consumption (Hoffman et al., 2010, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021) and the others reporting no increase (Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2019; Perry et al., 2004). Meanwhile, the Food Dudes (FD) intervention, which is widely used to promote vegetables to children and pre‐adolescents through videos featuring the FD heroes and encouraging children to eat more vegetables, was found to have mixed results.…”

“…Thirteen out of the 16 studies identified reported that incentives such as small prizes (Birnbaum et al., 2002; de Marchi et al., 2020; Hendy et al., 2007; Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021), raffle tickets (Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020), virtual currencies (Joyner et al., 2017), and stationery (Horne et al., 2009) increased children's liking, acceptance, willingness to try, and intake of vegetables. Incentives were commonly used together with modeling and education, with most of the interventions reporting positive effects (Birnbaum et al., 2002; Horne et al., 2009; Machado, Ritchie et al., 2020; McCormick et al., 2009; Presti et al., 2015; Song et al., 2016a; Wengreen et al., 2021, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021), except from one intervention targeting children with autism, in which no significant effect was reported (Taylor, Upton et al., 2013); however, results from the latter could be attributed to the small sample size ( n = 12) or the special needs of the children. Finally, in a study that used incentives in combination with repeated exposure to sweet peppers, an increase in the peppers’ consumption was only recorded in the exposure group and not in the group that was offered stickers if they would choose a piece of pepper (Wardle et al., 2003).…”

“…Similarly, when students were served raw peppers while waiting in line to receive the rest of their lunch meal, an increased proportion of students taking and eating the vegetable was observed (Elsbernd et al., 2016). Finally, as part of a multicomponent intervention, serving vegetables before other starchy options and making them more attractive was reported to increase vegetable consumption among children and pre‐adolescents compared to the control group (Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021).…”

“…Availability increasing availability and variety of vegetables and pulses (Adams et al., 2005; Bean et al., 2018; Bergamaschi et al., 2016; Birnbaum et al., 2002; Cohen et al., 2014; Machado, Burton et al., 2020; Madden et al., 2013; Perry et al., 2004; Siega‐Riz et al., 2011, Marcano‐Olivier et al., 2021), decreasing availability of unhealthy foods (Boehm et al., 2020; Wordell et al., 2012); …”