Effects of a school-based intervention on adherence of 7-9-year-olds to food-based dietary guidelines and intake of nutrients

• Published in: Public Health Nutrition
• Main Authors: Kristjansdottir, Asa G, Johannsson, Erlingur, Thorsdottir, Inga
• Other Authors: Faculty of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali-University Hospital, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Published on behalf of the Nutrition Society by CAB International 2010
• Subjects: Diet; Nutrition Assessment; Child Nutrition; Diet Records; Schools; Pubmed in process; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/107507; https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980010000716

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a school-based intervention on the diets of 7-9-year-olds. DESIGN: Dietary intake of children in second and fourth grades was assessed with 3d weighed dietary records in autumn 2006 and autumn 2008, before and after a school-based intervention that started in the middle of second grade, and compared with control schools with no intervention. The diet was evaluated by comparison with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and reference values for nutrient intake. The intervention aimed at several determinants of intake: knowledge, awareness, preferences/taste, self-efficacy and parental influence. Nutrition education material was developed for the intervention and implemented in collaboration with teachers. The main focus of the intervention was on fruit and vegetable intake as the children's intake was far from meeting the FBDG on fruit and vegetables at baseline. SETTING: Elementary schools in Reykjavik, Iceland. SUBJECTS: Complete dietary records were available for 106 children both at baseline and follow-up. RESULTS: Total fruit and vegetable intake increased by 47 % in the intervention schools (mean: 61.3 (sd 126.4) g/d) and decreased by 27 % in the control schools (mean: 46.5 (sd 105.3) g/d; P < 0.001). The majority of the children in the intervention schools did still not meet the FBDG on fruits and vegetables at follow-up. Fibre intake increased significantly in the intervention schools, as well as that of potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene and vitamin C (borderline). CONCLUSIONS: The school-based intervention in 7-9-year-olds was effective in increasing fruit and vegetable intake, by 47 % increase from baseline, which was mirrored in nutrient intake.