The purpose of this investigation was to study and compare the influences of cafeteria and family style methods of service upon the acceptance of ten foods at the noon meal by pre-school children as measured by the consumption of those foods. Each experimental period lasted for eight and one-half weeks. Subjects were 12 children, six girls and six boys, who were enrolled in the University Nursery School at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia during the 1964-65 academic year. With the exception of ten foods, five each experimental period, menus used with both methods of service were the same. Daily records were kept of the sizes of servings and number of second servings of the specific foods chosen by each child. Records of the child's comments and of the teacher's observations of each child in relation to those foods were also kept. Results of the data collected revealed that the subjects in general took and consumed more food with the cafeteria style than they did with the family style method of service. The number of second servings was greater with foods served by cafeteria style. / Master of Science

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Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Children in the United States do not eat enough fruits and vegetables to meet current dietary guidelines of 1 to 1.5 cups of fruits, and 1.5 to 2 cups of vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are an important source of various nutrients, and higher consumption of fruits and vegetables help children meet adequate nutrition needs for physical growth, and to lower risk of various chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. School-based nutrition or wellness intervention programs by local governments or non-profit organizations are part of the multi- prong approach to help increase fruit and vegetable consumption in children. One such school-based wellness intervention program based in New York City is Wellness In The Schools (WITS). WITS is a non-profit organization with the aim of implementing programs in schools that help facilitate healthy eating and positive group play in children. The two main arms of the WITS programming is the Cook for Kids and Coach for Kids programs. Overall, the goal of the WITS Cook for Kids program is to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, decrease processed foods consumed, and improve the perception of school lunch; the goal of the WITS Coach for Kids program is to increase physical activity, increase pro-social behaviors and team-based activities, and decrease schoolyard bullying at recess. A WITS Chef and a WITS Coach are placed in each school and work alongside school food and recess aids on every school day during the first year of intervention. This dissertation study investigated the impact of one-year of WITS programming, as well as school lunch environmental factors, on school lunch consumption of fruits, vegetables, and salad bar items, in 2nd and 3rd grade students. The study utilized a non-randomized controlled trial design, with seven intervention schools receiving the WITS programming, and seven matched control schools. Intervention schools received the WITS programming starting from September 2015 that continued through the last week of June 2016 when the school year ended, while control schools did not receive any WITS programming. This study is significant in that it evaluated a real-world health program using a large sample of schools with match controls, along with using valid and reliable methods assessing multiple outcome measures of food consumption and environmental factors. WITS intervention and Control schools in this study were in an urban setting with high percentage of minority and high percentage poverty. The first research question explored the differences in consumption of fruits, vegetables, and salad bar items at school lunch for 2nd and 3rd grade students. Comparisons were made between WITS intervention schools and Control schools, 2nd grade students and 3rd grade students, and girls and boys, after one year of the WITS intervention programming. School lunch food on tray and consumption of students was assessed by observation over three school days for each school at Time 0 and Time 1 study time periods. About thirty students were observed each observation day for each school, totaling over 1300 student observations each study time period. The second research question focused on testing the impact of various school lunch environmental factors on 2nd and 3rd grade students’ consumption of fruits, vegetables, and salad bar items at school lunch. The school lunch environmental factors included: time duration of school lunch, wait time before getting school lunch, order of lunch and recess, pre-plating of fruits on lunch trays, slicing of fruits, whole fruits in an attractive serving bowl, number of fruit options, position of vegetables in lunch line, pre-plating of vegetables on lunch trays, number of vegetable options, position of salad bar, and number of salad bar items. These school lunch environmental factors were assessed using observation. This study found that there were no differences in consumption of fruits, vegetables, and salad bar items between WITS intervention schools and Control schools at Time 0 or at Time 1. This study did find that 3rd grade students ate more fruits and salad than 2nd grade students, when analyzed for only students who had the food item on the tray and when analyzed for all students. Students in 3rd grade ate significantly more vegetable than students in 2nd grade, analyzed within students that had vegetable on tray. Additionally, more 3rd grade students had any salad on tray than 2nd grade students. This study also found that across all students, girls ate more fruits and salad than boys. More girls had any fruit and salad on tray than boys, and across all students, more girls ate any fruit and salad than boys. Having lunch after recess, and slicing or pre-cutting of fruits were found to have a significant positive correlation with fruit consumption across all students. However, displaying whole fruits being served in an attractive serving bowl were found to have a significant negative correlation with fruit consumption across all students. Pre-plating of vegetables on lunch trays, and having two or more vegetable options were found to have a significant positive correlation with vegetable consumption across all students. Only wait time before getting school lunch was found to have a significant positive correlation with salad consumption across all students. The WITS programming might not have been executed in full due to real-world limitations, which may have contributed to the lack of differences in fruit, vegetable and salad consumption between WITS intervention and Control schools. Future review of the level of implementation of all the components of the WITS programming would allow for improvements in the execution of the programming. The findings from this study also indicate that some school lunch environmental factors could have strong influences on the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and salad bar items. Interventions working on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption could thus consider incorporating steps to manipulate these factors to improve the impact of their programming.

In the U.S., few children meet federal recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption, putting them at increased risk for overweight, obesity and several non-communicable diseases. Interventions to increase fruit and vegetable consumption delivered within the school setting are advantageous in that they provide the opportunity to reach many youths in period of life during which key diet-related behaviors are formed that may track into adulthood. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), a federal food assistance program that serves over 30 million meals daily in over 100,000 schools in the U.S., is one example of an intervention that may increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children. Recent regulatory changes to the program via the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) require compliance with minimum daily and weekly minimums for fruit and vegetables offered to students at lunch to receive federal reimbursement, which has resulted in increased availability of fruits and vegetables. Although preliminary evaluations of the regulatory changes have documented small increases in consumption, there is interest in identifying other programs and policies to ensure that components are consumed. Yet there is little meta-evidence that critically examines aspects related to the design of school-based intervention studies assessing fruit and vegetable consumption. This dissertation describes a systematic mapping review of the literature and three empirical studies which inform the development of a conceptual evaluation framework for designing studies to measure fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary students in the U.S. within schools participating in the NSLP. A systematic mapping review of the literature technique was used to identify studies conducted among elementary students in grades K-5th within schools in the United States in the period from 2004 to present with the primary outcome fruit and vegetable consumption at the lunch meal. A total of 61 records were included in the review, categorized as either methodological validation studies (n=10) or as studies of factors related to students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables (n=51). Validation studies were conducted with four types of dietary assessment methods within the school lunch setting, all demonstrating moderate accuracy relative to the referent method: weighed plate waste, direct observation, digital photography and self-report instruments. In the studies examining factors related to fruit and vegetable consumption at school lunch, the frequency of methods was as follows: weighed plate waste method (n=21), direct observation (n=14), digital photography methodology (n=12), and self-report (n=4). Most studies utilized cross-sectional (n=15) or quasi-experimental designs (n=24). A socio-ecological framework was used to group 19 environmental factors examined in these studies into 5 clusters of factors: individual, item-specific, meal-specific, cafeteria environment and school-wide/policy. While many factors were explored across studies, relatively few studies accounted for multiple factors in their analyses, leaving room for potential confounding. Three empirical studies were conducted within a larger, cross-sectional evaluation of FoodCorps, a national farm-to-school program that promotes fruit and vegetable consumption in school-aged children. First, this dissertation conducted a validation study to estimate the accuracy of a self-report questionnaire instrument relative to digital photography for measuring fruit and vegetable consumption in elementary students from 23 schools in a five-phase study. High agreement was observed between student reports of fruit and vegetable items on tray and items observed in digital photographs (match rate ranged from 77 to 88% depending on phase), as well as reports of amounts of fruit and vegetable items consumed (ranges from 67 to 83% depending on phase). There were no differences observed in accuracy of reporting between 2nd and 3rd grade students. It can therefore be concluded that a group-administered self-report instrument can be used to measure fruit and vegetable consumption in a school setting among 2nd and 3rd grade students, providing a potentially less costly instrument than existing objective methods. Second, a descriptive study reports intra-class correlation estimates for fruit and vegetable outcomes, quantifying the variation in these outcomes attributable to the school-level that can be used in power calculation for future studies. Using 2,571 before- and after-meal digital photographs collected of students’ lunch trays across 40 days of data collection within 20 schools, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were estimated via multilevel regression models. The observed ICCs for all fruit and vegetable consumption outcomes ranged from 0.159 (vegetables on tray, continuous) to 0.472 (vegetables on tray, binary). Within each of food item category (fruit, vegetables, or fruit and vegetables combined), the highest ICC was observed for items on tray (binary). A multilevel linear model which included as covariates the percent of students eligible for free/reduced price lunch and the percent of white students was shown to decrease the ICC for each fruit and vegetable outcome variable except fruit on tray (binary). The largest for decrease in ICC was for the outcome fruit and vegetables on tray (in cup equivalents), wherein the model reduced ICC from 0.268 to 0.018, a 93% decrease. The power calculations for cluster randomized controlled trial that can conducted using these ICCs will help to ensure that researchers have adequately powered their studies. Third, select cafeteria environmental factors were examined in a cross-sectional study as they relate to students’ fruit and vegetable consumption at the lunch meal. Using the digital photographs of 2,571 lunch trays from the previous study, the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and several environmental factors was examined. The average consumption of fruit and vegetables was 0.35 cup equivalents (SD=0.31) and 0.24 cup equivalents (SD=0.29), respectively, among students who had them on their tray. When considering students who had a fruit or a vegetable or both on their tray (96% of the sample), the average was 0.45 cup equivalents (SD=0.40). Hierarchical linear models examined environmental variables and fruit and vegetable consumption outcomes: the number of fruit and vegetable items offered (range from 3 to 14 items) was positively associated with vegetable consumption (B=0.021; SE=0.006; P<0.001); noise (rage from 70 DbA to 84 DbA) was negatively associated with fruit consumption (B=-0.012; SE=0.004; P=0.003) and fruit and vegetable consumption (B=-0.017; SE=0.004; P<0.001); recess scheduled before lunch was positively associated with fruit consumption (relative to recess after lunch; B=0.100; SE=0.023; P<0.001) and fruit and vegetable consumption (B=0.096; SE=0.023; P<0.001). Despite cross-sectional evidence of an association, future research is necessary to systematically manipulate these variables to understand their impact. The results from these three studies and the systematic mapping review are used to develop a conceptual evaluation framework that can be used by researchers to improve the quality and design of studies promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary school-aged children in the U.S.

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges in implementing the Nutrition Programme at Khomela Primary School in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. A qualitative research was conducted using case study research design method. The Non-probability sampling method was done through purposive sampling method to select Grade 6 and 7 learners and convenient sampling method for teachers and parents. Data collection was done using individual unstructured interviews. Data was analysed using qualitative data analysis method. Four groups of respondents participated in the study: learners group (n=10) giving information on the meal preference; teachers (n=8) managing and administering the Nutrition Programme at school level; parents and food handlers (food handlers n=2, parents n=5). The study focused on the following challenges: management, infrastructure, training, motivation, food safety, quality of food, delivery by suppliers and feeding time as the main challenges of the Nutrition Programme. The findings of the study concluded that there was poor involvement of teachers and parents in the Nutrition Programme. The study also concluded that the aim and principles of the Nutrition Programme were not well understood at Khomela Primary School. The participants also made suggestions on how the Nutrition Programme could be improved effectively. The study suggested that the school had to conduct awareness campaigns of learners, teachers and parents indicating the importance of the Nutrition Programme in schools. The study also concluded that the school had to be provided with modern a kitchen and a school dining hall. Despite the challenges, the Nutrition Programme had a positive impact on the school enrolment. To minimise the challenges of the Nutrition Programme, the study recommends that the principal and the School Governing Body draft a School Nutrition Policy which is in line with the Nutrition Programme guidelines. The Nutrition Policy should cover issues such as management and administration of the Nutrition Programme.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / Nutrition is a basic human right as well as a prerequisite for the realization of full intellectual and physical potential. This is also stipulated in the South African Constitution and the Bill of rights. The Limpopo Province is known as one of the most poverty and drought stricken provinces in the RSA with a very high rate of unemployment. To alleviate poverty and to improve health and school attendance, the state president enhanced the Primary School Nutrition Programme on 1 September1994 in a number of targeted primary schools according to their poverty level. This study focused on the formative phase of the evaluation of the Primary School Nutrition Programme in the Mogodumo Circuit of the Capricorn District in the Limpopo province. It is a formative phase as it is an ongoing process. Mogodumo circuit is situated ± 56 km, west of Polokwane City, with 90% of the primary schools situated in the rural area. For this study, the researcher employed the probability sampling method in two stages. A simple random sampling of five schools selected was done while the stratified sample was obtained at each of those five selected schools. Through qualitative research, the qualitative data were obtained through a questionnaire, interviews and observation. The final results from the study show that though the learners’ school attendance had improved, they (learners) were eating the food because “beggars are not choosers”. The food they were receiving was of a poor quality, not delicious and not according to the tender specifications. There were no community involvement in the education of their children, unfaithful suppliers and helper mothers (volunteers), principals were forced to sign for the quality of food that was not received, passive participation of the teachers and their involvement in the decision making of the PSNP issues, a lack of facilities such as water, electricity, kitchens and fences. The helper mothers (volunteers) were complaining about the heavy job they were doing without a living wage as they only received a thankyou token of R110-00 per month. The programme was thus functioning in contradiction to rules and policies laid down for it. / Limpopo Department of Education

Thesis ( M.Dev.)) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / Refer to document

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-73).