Parental provision and children's consumption of fruit and vegetables did not increase following the Food Dudes programme
Abstract
Purpose
This study is based on previous research which suggests that the Dudes programme increases children's fruit and vegetable consumption for school-provided meals by assessing its effectiveness in increasing the provision and consumption of fruit and vegetables in home-provided meals.
Design/methodology/approach
Two cohorts of children participated from six schools in the West Midlands in the UK, one receiving the Food Dudes intervention and a matched control group who did not receive any intervention. Participants were children aged four to seven years from six primary schools, three intervention (n=123) and three control schools (n=156). Parental provision and consumption of fruit and vegetables was assessed pre-intervention, then three and 12 months post-intervention. Consumption was measured across five consecutive days in each school using digital photography.
Findings
No significant increases in parental provision or consumption were found at three or 12 months for children in the intervention schools, however, increases were evident for children in the control group.
Research limitations/implications
Further development of the Food Dudes programme could develop ways of working with parents and children to increase awareness of what constitutes a healthy lunch.
Originality value
This is the first independent evaluation to assess the influence of the Food Dudes programme on parental provision and children's consumption of lunchtime fruit and vegetables.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by Department of Health West Midlands and Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust. The authors would like to thank the school staff, children and their families who participated in this project and the research team who assisted with the collection and analysis of data.
Citation
Upton, D., Taylor, C. and Upton, P. (2014), "Parental provision and children's consumption of fruit and vegetables did not increase following the Food Dudes programme", Health Education, Vol. 114 No. 1, pp. 58-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-06-2013-0026
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited