Efficacy of a school-based education intervention on the consumption of fruits, vegetables and carbonated soft drinks among adolescents

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of a school-based education intervention on the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and carbonated soft drinks among adolescents. Design: Cluster-randomised controlled trial. Setting: Eight secondary schools from Dhaka city, Bangladesh, participated in this trial and were randomly allocated to intervention (n=160) and control groups (n=160). Participants: A total of 320 students from 8th-9th grades participated and completed the self- reported questionnaires at baseline, and at 8 and 12 weeks. The intervention included weekly classroom-based nutrition education sessions for students and healthy eating materials for students and parents. Repeated measures ANCOVA was used to assess the effects of the intervention. Results: Daily fresh fruit intake was more frequent in the intervention (26%) compared to the control group (3%) at 12 weeks (p=0.006). Participants from the intervention group also reported a significantly (p<0.001) higher (49%) proportion of fresh vegetable intake compared to the control group (2%) at 12 weeks. Frequency of daily carbonated soft drinks intake decreased (25%) in the intervention group at 12 weeks compared to baseline, while it remained unchanged in the control group; the interaction effect was observed significant (p=0.002). Conclusion: Our school-based education intervention increased the daily frequency of fresh vegetables and fruit intake and decreased carbonated soft drink consumption among adolescents in the intervention group. There is a need for scaling up the intervention to engage students and empower them to develop healthy dietary habits.