Veggie Rx: an outcome evaluation of a healthy food incentive programme

Abstract

Objective One challenge to healthy nutrition, especially among low-income individuals, is access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. To address this problem, Veggie Rx, a healthy food incentive programme, was established within a community clinic to increase access to fresh produce for low-income patients diagnosed with obesity, hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes. The current research aimed to evaluate Veggie Rx programme effectiveness. Design A retrospective pre/post design using medical records and programme data was used to evaluate the programme. The study was approved by the University of Albany Institutional Review Board and the Patient Interest Committee of a community clinic. Setting The study was conducted in a low-income, urban neighbourhood in upstate New York. Subjects Medical record data and Veggie Rx programme data were analysed for fifty-four eligible participants. An equal-sized control group of patients who were not programme participants were matched on age, ethnicity and co-morbidity status. Results: A statistically significant difference in mean BMI change (P = 0.02) between the intervention and the control group was calculated. The intervention group had a mean decrease in BMI of 0.74 kg/m2. Conclusions Greater improvement in BMI was found among Veggie Rx programme participants. This information will guide programme changes and inform the field on the effectiveness of healthy food incentive programmes for improving health outcomes for low-income populations.

Child Consumption of Whole Fruit and Fruit Juice Following Six Months of Exposure to a Pediatric Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program

“…With childhood consistently identified as a critical period for the establishment of lifelong dietary patterns [35][36][37], it is particularly important to support access to healthy food and foster the development of healthy eating behaviors among all individuals early in life. The approach and design of the current study were uniquely different from the majority of programs throughout the US that utilize fruit and vegetable prescriptions as a disease-management strategy for adults with diet-related chronic health conditions [32,33,[63][64][65]. Instead, pediatric fruit and vegetable prescriptions in this study were provided to all children, regardless of health condition or socioeconomic status, in an effort to emphasize the critical role of fruits and vegetables in chronic disease prevention during children's formative years [35][36][37].…”

Dietary Impact of Produce Prescriptions for Patients With Hypertension

“…Produce prescription partnerships that engage public health, health care clinics, and farmers markets are one approach gaining momentum to improve fruit and vegetable intake (8–13). A “prescription” refers patients to community resources providing fruit and vegetable access.…”

“…Although decreases in glycated hemoglobin A 1c were observed among people with diabetes, participants’ weight and blood pressure remained unchanged, and redemption and dietary behaviors were not examined (12). Others have demonstrated reduction in body mass index among low-income urban patients with chronic disease in a case–control design; however, it is unclear what effect the program had on intermediate outcomes such as fruit and vegetable consumption (13). We sought to evaluate the effect of a brief clinical produce prescription intervention for food-insecure patients with hypertension on program participation, nutrition counseling, fruit and vegetable voucher redemption, and dietary behavior change.…”

Produce Rx Programs for Diet-Based Chronic Disease Prevention

“…A total of 19 articles are included in this review. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Fourteen articles evaluated the impact of produce Rx programs, including 10 peer-reviewed articles and 4 conference abstracts (see table 1). Five articles-1 study and 4 commentary pieces-were qualitative descriptions of the organizations or systems that operate and facilitate produce Rx programs.…”

“…e No studies used enrollment in Medicaid as a measure of eligibility. Three studies (Bryce et al, 10 Cavanagh et al, 12 Goddu et al 16 ) included descriptive statistics about Medicaid enrollment.…”