Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Commons^™

New Fruit And Vegetable Offerings And Challenges Increased Lunch-Time Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Fourth-Graders, Cory Ann Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Facilitating nutritional improvement in schools is an important strategy for reversing the alarming trends of overweight and undernourishment currently observed among children in the United States. Compared to national recommendations, many people in the United States under-consume nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables. The objective of this study was to determine if various school-based interventions can increase fruit and vegetable consumption among 75 fourth-graders. Interventions included fruit and vegetable challenges, offering a new variety of fruit, and classroom nutrition education. To assess intake, photographs of students' school lunch trays were taken pre- and post-consumption and then analyzed to determine …