Increasing vegetable intakes: rationale and systematic review of published interventions

Abstract

Purpose While the health benefits of a high fruit and vegetable consumption are well known and considerable work has attempted to improve intakes, increasing evidence also recognises a distinction between fruit and vegetables, both in their impacts on health and in consumption patterns. Increasing work suggests health benefits from a high consumption specifically of vegetables, yet intakes remain low, and barriers to increasing intakes are prevalent making intervention difficult. A systematic review was undertaken to identify from the published literature all studies reporting an intervention to increase intakes of vegetables as a distinct food group.MethodsDatabases—PubMed, PsychInfo and Medline—were searched over all years of records until April 2015 using pre-specified terms.ResultsOur searches identified 77 studies, detailing 140 interventions, of which 133 (81 %) interventions were conducted in children. Interventions aimed to use or change hedonic factors, such as taste, liking and familiarity (n = 72), use or change environmental factors (n = 39), use or change cognitive factors (n = 19), or a combination of strategies (n = 10). Increased vegetable acceptance, selection and/or consumption were reported to some degree in 116 (83 %) interventions, but the majority of effects seem small and inconsistent.ConclusionsGreater percent success is currently found from environmental, educational and multi-component interventions, but publication bias is likely, and long-term effects and cost-effectiveness are rarely considered. A focus on long-term benefits and sustained behaviour change is required. Certain population groups are also noticeably absent from the current list of tried interventions.

Effect of home vegetable gardening on the household availability of fruits and vegetables

“…An extensive literature exists regarding fruit and vegetable promotion through interventions with multiple components and strategy actions [29,30]. However, most of them address a single setting, especially schools and work environments [29,30].…”

“…However, most of them address a single setting, especially schools and work environments [29,30]. There is a limited number of studies examining different settings, including a few pilot studies and study projects [31,32].…”

Perception versus intake of fruit and vegetables

“…Thus, although FV intake is generally assessed together, it is possible that the population has different behaviors regarding these food groups. Therefore, they should be investigated separately and the barriers and facilitators concerning their intake must be taken into consideration [8,33].…”

Familiarity and liking of vegetables: Is it important for vegetable consumption?

“…As children grow and age, taste, appearance and liking appear to continue to be important in relation to vegetable intake (Poelman et al, 2015;Appleton et al, 2016); but, considering the international evidence, lower consumption may also be associated with elements of the family context including:…”

“…For these reasons the WHO and its member states have given the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity high priority, with one of the recommendations being to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables (WHO, 2014). Interventions to date to improve vegetable intake have been tried with varying degrees of success (Appleton et al, 2016). …”