Free school fruit--sustained effect 1 year later

Objectives: To evaluate the long-term effects of the Schoolgruiten Project, a Dutch primary school-based intervention providing free fruit and vegetables (F&V). In addition, we assessed whether children's appreciation of the project mediated these intervention effects. Design and methods: Participating schoolchildren (mean age 9?9 years at baseline) and their parents completed parallel questionnaires at baseline, at 1-year and at 2-year follow-up, including questions on usual F&V intake of the child, potential behavioural determinants, their appreciation of the project and general demographics. Primary outcomes were usual F&V intakes as assessed by parent and child self-reported food frequency measures. Secondary outcome measures were taste preference, knowledge of daily recommendations, availability and accessibility for fruit intake. Multilevel linear regression analyses were used to assess differences at second follow-up adjusted for baseline values between control and intervention groups. Subjects: Reports were available for 346 intervention children (148 parents) and 425 control children (287 parents). Results: Both child and parent reports indicated that the intervention group had a significantly higher fruit intake at 2-year follow-up (difference, servings/d: 0?15; 95 % CI 0?004, 0?286 for child reports; 0?19; 95 % CI 0?030, 0?340 for parent reports). No significant effects on vegetable intake were observed. Significant positive intervention effects were also found for knowledge of fruit recommendations among boys. Some evidence was found for partial mediation analyses of the effects on fruit intake. Conclusion: The present study indicates that the Schoolgruiten scheme was effective in increasing children's fruit intake and that appreciation of the project partially mediated this effect.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Long-term effects of the Dutch Schoolgruiten Project – promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among primary-school children

Tak

Velde

Brug

2009

“…Earlier studies in which free fruit was added to school lunches have reported increased fruit intake (27)(28)(29) . One reason for the reduced food score registered in our study could be the different times during the year that registration took place.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serving of free school lunch to secondary-school pupils – a pilot study with health implications

Ask

Hernes

Aarek

et al. 2009

Objective: To study whether service of a free school lunch has an impact on weight development and food intake among pupils at a lower secondary school, and to assess the association between self-perceived school behaviour and food intake. Design: A controlled intervention study involving service of a free healthy school lunch to 9th grade pupils took place over 4 months, from January to May 2007. Weight and height were measured before and after the intervention. The pupils also completed a short FFQ and a questionnaire concerning self-perceived school behaviour and the classroom environment before and after the intervention. A healthy food score was calculated using the FFQ data. Setting: All 9th graders at three different lower secondary schools in southern Norway were invited to participate. One school was randomly selected as the intervention school. Subjects: Fifty-eight pupils (91 %) from the intervention school and ninety-two pupils (77 %) from the control schools participated.

“…Experiences from this last type of intervention -actual provision of F&V to the pupils -have generally been positive, although the evidence on whether it leads to sustained increases in F&V intake 2-3 years after the intervention period is both scarce and mixed (3,(8)(9)(10)(11) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These include pilot studies intending to map the potential effects of nationwide school fruit schemes (8,9,13) . In the USA, elementary schools with a high proportion of low-income students are eligible for receiving free school fruit through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating free school fruit: results from a natural experiment in Norway with representative data

Øvrum¹,

Bere

2013

Objective: To assess impacts of the nationwide Norwegian School Fruit Scheme (NSFS) using nationally representative data. Design: The NSFS is organized such that primary-school children (grades 1-7) are randomly assigned to one of three school fruit arrangements: (i) the child receives one free fruit or vegetable per day; (ii) the child is given the option to subscribe to one fruit or vegetable per day at a subsidized price; and (iii) the child attends a school that has no school fruit arrangement. Setting: Data from an Internet survey are used to compare child and parental fruit and vegetable intakes across the three NSFS groups focusing mainly on groups (i) and (iii). The analysis was conducted using multivariate regression techniques. Subjects: Parents of primary-school children (n 1423) who report on behalf of themselves and their children. Results: Children who receive free school fruit eat on average 0?36 more fruit portions daily -or 25?0 % more fruits -than children who attend schools with no fruit arrangement (P , 0?001). Moreover, parents of children who receive free school fruit eat on average 0?19 more fruit portions daily -or 12?5 % more fruitsthan parents of children who attend schools with no fruit arrangement (P 5 0?040). No significant associations were found between the NSFS and the vegetable intakes of children and their parents.