Outcomes of a High School Program to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: Gimme 5 — A Fresh Nutrition Concept for Students

Abstract

This paper describes an intervention to increase high school students' fruit and vegetable consumption. Twelve schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. The cohort (2,213 students; 56% females, 84% Caucasian) were followed from 9th to 12th grades. Interventions comprised a media campaign, classroom workshops, school meal modification, and parental support. Usual daily servings of fruit/vegetables increased 14% in the intervention compared to the control group (p > 0.001) the first three years. At follow-up, consumption within the control group also increased, resulting in no significant difference between groups. Intervention group knowledge scores and awareness indicators were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.0001). Gimme 5 provided a first model to show that dietary habits of high school students can be influenced by positive media messages relative to that age group, increased exposure to a variety of tasty products, and minimal classroom activity.

Fruit and vegetable intake: vitamin C and β-carotene intake and serum concentrations in six-year-old children and their parents

“…A study in Minnesota, USA, demonstrated a significant increase in observed lunchroom intake of fruit and vegetables, and an overall increase in reported fruit consumption, but not vegetable consumption, among fourth and fifth graders (26). Similarly, a 14% increase in the usual daily servings of vegetables and fruit was observed for a high-school programme, but this effect disappeared by year 3 (27).…”

Increasing children's fruit and vegetable consumption: distribution or a multicomponent programme?

“…For example, the multicomponent programme is relatively low in cost, but takes a lot of classroom time, and is labourintensive to put into practice 7,25 -27 . Also a lack of adoption or (loyal) implementation of curricula due to time constraints has been reported 28 . A free distribution, on the other hand, is easier to implement because it becomes a daily routine, but is far more expensive compared with a multicomponent programme.…”

Dental erosion in a group of British 14-year-old school children Part II: Influence of dietary intake

“…Nicklas et al(1998) 25 described an intervention programme involving a media campaign, classroom workshops, school meal modification, and parental support. This was implemented in 12 high schools with a total of 2,213 students.…”