This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of a fruit and vegetable (FV) tasting program on third and fifth grade childrens preferences and psychosocial factors associated with FV intake. Four public schools in southeastern Louisiana participated. Two schools served as the intervention group where children were given a taste of four fruits or four vegetables on a rotating schedule for eight weeks followed by two weeks of tasting four months post- intervention (follow-up). Two control schools did not participate in tasting but received brightly colored FV posters which were posted in the cafeteria each week. A questionnaire administered at baseline, post-intervention, and after follow-up tastings assessed 38 FV preferences, self-efficacy, social norms, and outcome expectations for FV consumption. 161 children (52% third graders) who tasted fruit at least eight times and vegetables at least 20 times during the 8-week tasting program were included in the analysis. Significant differences were observed between the intervention and control groups toward preferences for less common (p=0.03) and common fruits (p=0.02). In the intervention group, preference for less common fruits such as apricots, avocados, cantaloupe, kiwi, mangos and papaya increased from baseline to post-intervention (p=0.04) and from baseline to follow-up (p=0.01). Children demonstrated greater self-efficacy to consume FV from baseline to follow-up (p=0.01) in the intervention group but no changes were observed in the control group. These findings suggest that a FV tasting program positively impacts fruit preferences and self-efficacy to consume FV.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04142011-132212 |
| Date | 18 April 2011 |
| Creators | Wong, Wei-Ping |
| Contributors | Tuuri, Georgianna, Tussing-Humphreys, Lisa, Geaghan, James, Keenan, Micheal |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04142011-132212/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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