1. A school-based nutritional intervention with the involvement of teacher.
- Author
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Perikkou, Anastasia, Kokkinou, Eleni, Anastasiou, Costas A., and Yiannakoulia, Mary
- Subjects
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SCHOOL health services , *SCHOOL food , *FRUIT in human nutrition , *HEALTH promotion , *CHILD nutrition - Abstract
Objective: Aim of the study was to evaluate a school-based novel approach for increasing children's fruit consumption. Methods: In this study, 218 pupils (9-year old) from Cyprus were randomly assigned into two 1-year intervention groups, namely the Educational Material (EDUC) (N=59; weekly educational programme for increasing awareness and improving skills regarding fruit preparation/consumption) and the Exposure group (EXPO) (N=67; exposure of children to the consumption of a fruit on a daily basis by their teacher), or a Control group (N=58; no intervention). Children's dietary intake was assessed through 2-day dietary records before (October 2008) and at the end of the intervention (June 2009). Results: Significant higher daily fruit intake was reported by the children in the EXPO and the EDUC groups compared to the Control group at the end of the intervention (P<0.001). Conclusion: Both exposure to daily fruit consumption by the school teacher and "traditional" educational approaches may be effective ways for improving fruit intake of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013