Outcomes of a high school program to increase fruit and vegetable consumption: 'Gimme 5'- a fresh nutrition concept for students

This paper describes an intervention to increase high school students' fruit and vegetable consumption. Twelve schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. The cohort (2,213 students; 56% females, 84% Caucasian) were followed from 9th to 12th grades. Interventions comprised a media campaign, classroom workshops, school meal modification, and parental support. Usual daily servings of fruit/vegetables increased 14% in the intervention compared to the control group (p [is greater than] 0.001) the first three years. At follow-up, consumption within the control group also increased, resulting in no significant difference between groups. Intervention group knowledge scores and awareness indicators were significantly higher than those of the control group (p [is less than] 0.0001). Gimme 5 provided a first model to show that dietary habits of high school students can be influenced by positive media messages relative to that age group, increased exposure to a variety of tasty products, and minimal classroom activity. (J Sch Health. 1998;68(6):248-253)
Nutrition has a major impact on the development of certain cancers.[1-3] According to Willet, 'the inverse relationship between the intake of vegetables and fruits and the risk of cancer represents [...]