Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In the United States, over 30 percent of children are categorized as overweight or
obese. Comorbid conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and other health
complications related to obesity, are also on the rise. This public health issue is often
related to disproportionate dietary intake and lack of physical activity. Efforts that
promote fruits and vegetables (F/V) as preferred food choices over high fat and high
sugar foods may help combat the increasing incidence of overweight and obesity. Other
benefits from F/V include prebiotics or fiber that helps to create and maintain a healthy
microbiota, which is now recognized as essential for long-term positive health outcomes.
Many children, however, fall short in consuming the recommended daily amounts of F/V
servings, and therefore, lack key nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and
fiber.
This study is a pilot, quasi-experimental design that provides information related
to the importance of eating F/V to children, ages 11-12 years, who attend a parochial
school in Indianapolis, Indiana. The data from this study describe the amounts of F/V
servings in home-prepared school lunches. The primary aim of this study is to determine
if eight interactive multimedia lessons and activities delivered to one group of students
(intervention) and a single lesson delivered to a different group of students in the same
school and grade (control), affects the amount of lunch F/V servings, student knowledge,
attitude, and self-efficacy/perception. This baseline data will contribute to the design and implementation of a health curriculum for middle school age students. Focus groups,
adapted validated assessment tools as well as the on-site observation of F/V servings
brought in lunches and consumed at lunch are compared between both groups to
document any effects of the instruction.
The results show that a statistically significant change in knowledge occurred
within the intervention group following the implementation of this F/V education series.
Favorable findings, with a positive upward trend in relative amounts of F/V, were
identified and more research in this area is warranted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/16790 |
| Date | 11 December 2017 |
| Creators | Whelan, JoAnne Louise |
| Contributors | Arnold, Brent, Ernst, Judith, Staten, Lisa, Magee, Paula |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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