(P22-021-23) Nutrition Education Intervention To Improve Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Preschoolers: A Study Protocol

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a 6-week theory-based nutrition education curriculum to increase and maintain fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and to explore the relationship between FV intake and blood pressure, physical activity levels, child eating behavior, and body weight status controlling for socio-demographic factors.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial in two classrooms of preschool children (aged 3-5 years). Following a 1-week acclimation period, FV liking and consumption, skin carotenoid levels, blood pressure, body height and weight, and physical activity will be measured during a three-day baseline period. BMI-for-age percentiles and systolic/diastolic blood pressure percentiles will be determined. Parent and child socio-demographic information and child eating behavior (CEBQ) will be parent-reported. One classroom will be randomly allocated to the intervention condition which consists of a 6-week-long nutrition education curriculum informed by the Social Cognitive Theory that provides two educational sessions and one taste-test activity per week. Baseline measures will be repeated post-intervention in both classrooms and again after 6 weeks of no activity for follow-up assessment. Sample size and power analysis resulted in a required sample size of n=8 children to achieve adequate statistical power (≥80%) based on effect sizes from published reports. Student’s t-test will be used to assess baseline differences between children in the classrooms. Analysis of variance will be used to explore the association between FV intake and BMI-percentile, socio-demographics, and child eating behavior. A two-way repeated measures analysis of covariance will be used to examine any changes in FV intake, controlling for BMI, total energy intake, and physical activity levels. Pearson correlation will be used to examine the association between FV intake and both blood pressure and physical activity levels.

Results: N/A

Conclusions: The findings of this study will provide data on critically needed methodological approaches to improve diet quality in preschoolers. Increasing FV intake at preschool age may promote the establishment of healthy dietary intake patterns and aid in the prevention of non-communicable diseases in adulthood.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by the University of Virginia.