Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Preferences Associated with the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Program (2014–2016)

Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
7 February 2019

Abstract

Purpose: To examine overall usual fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and preferences among grade 5–8 students participating in the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Program (NFVP) over 3 years (2014–2016).
Methods: In each year, a survey was administered 4 months into the NFVP in Northern Ontario, Canada.
Results: A total of 4744 students participated (2014 = 1551; 2015 = 1617; 2016 = 1576). Overall usual FV intake did not change over the 3 years, yet preferences generally increased. FVs offered by the NFVP were rated higher on preference than those not offered (fruit P < 0.001; vegetables P < 0.005). In each year, participants were more likely to consume a higher overall usual fruit intake if they had higher preference for fruit as offered by the NFVP (all P < 0.05) as opposed to not offered by the NFVP (all P > 0.05). For vegetables, participants were more likely to consume higher overall usual vegetables if they had a higher preference for vegetables as offered (all P < 0.05) and not offered by the NFVP (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions: This study documented that higher preferences for fruit (as offered) and vegetables (as offered and not offered) were associated with higher overall usual FV intakes within each of the 3 years.

Résumé

Objectif. Examiner la consommation globale habituelle de fruits et légumes (FL) et les préférences chez des élèves de la 5e à la 8e année participant au programme Distribution de fruits et de légumes dans le nord de l’Ontario (DFLNO) sur 3 ans (2014–2016).
Méthodes. Chaque année, un sondage a été mené 4 mois après le début du DFLNO.
Résultats. Au total, 4744 élèves ont participé (2014 = 1551; 2015 = 1617; 2016 = 1576). Dans l’ensemble, la consommation habituelle de FL n’a pas changé au cours des 3 années, mais les préférences ont généralement augmenté. La préférence était plus grande pour les FL offerts dans le cadre du DFLNO que pour les autres FL (P fruits < 0,001; P légumes < 0,005). Chaque année, les participants étaient plus susceptibles de consommer une plus grande quantité globale de fruits s’ils préféraient les fruits offerts (tous, P < 0,05) vs non offerts dans le cadre du DFLNO (tous, P > 0,05). En ce qui concerne les légumes, les participants étaient plus susceptibles de consommer une plus grande quantité globale de légumes, peu importe s’ils préféraient les légumes offerts (tous, P < 0,05) ou ceux non offerts dans le cadre du DFLNO (tous, P < 0,05).
Conclusions. Cette étude a démontré qu’une plus grande préférence pour les fruits (offerts) et les légumes (offerts et non offerts) était associée à une consommation globale habituelle plus élevée de FL au cours de chacune des 3 années de l’étude.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Financial support: A research contract was provided to the author from the Algoma, Porcupine, and Sudbury Public Health Units.
Conflict of interest: The author declares that they have no competing interests.

REFERENCES

1
Ahmadi N, Black JL, Velazquez CE, Chapman GE, and Veenstra G. Associations between socio-economic status and school-day dietary intake in a sample of grade 5-8 students in Vancouver, Canada. Public Health Nutr. 2015;18:764–73.
2
Hanning RM, Woodruff SJ, Lambraki I, Jessup L, Driezen P, and Murphy C. Nutrient intakes and food consumption patterns among Ontario students in grades 6, 7, and 8. Can J Public Health. 2007;98:12–16.
3
Moffat T and Galloway T. Food consumption patterns in elementary school children. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2008;69:152–54.
4
Garriguet D. An overview of Canadians’ eating habits. Health Rep. 2006;18:17–32.
5
Minaker L and Hammond D. Low frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption among Canadian youth: Findings from the 2012/2013 Youth Smoking Survey. J Sch Health. 2016;86:135–42.
6
Dahl WJ and Stewart ML. Position of the academy of nutrition and dietetics: Health implications of dietary fiber. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015;115:1861–70.
7
Wang X, Ouyang Y, Liu J, Zhu M, Zhao G, Bao W, and Hu FB. Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: Systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 2014;349:g4490.
8
Dauchet L, Amouyel P, and Dallongeville J. Fruits, vegetables and coronary heart disease. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2009;6:599–608.
9
Story M, Kaphingst KM, Robinson-O’Brien R, and Glanz K. Creating healthy food and eating environments: Policy and environmental approaches. Annu Rev Public Health. 2008;29:253–72.
10
Kelder SH, Perry CL, Klepp KI, and Lytle LL. Longitudinal tracking of adolescent smoking, physical activity, and food choice behaviors. Am J Public Health. 1994;84:1121–26.
11
Adamo KB, Goldfield GS, Colapinto CK, Grattan HP, Harvey A, and Barrowman N. Evaluating a fruit and vegetable program in eastern Ontario schools. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2013;74:167–74.
12
He M, Beynon C, Sangster Bouck M, St Onge R, Stewart S, Khoshaba L, Horbul BA, and Chircoski B. Impact evaluation of the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Programme—a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Public Health Nutr. 2009;12:2199–208.
13
Gates M, Hanning RM, Gates A, McCarthy DD, and Tsuji LJS. Assessing the impact of pilot school snack programs on milk and alternatives intake in 2 remote First Nation communities in northern Ontario, Canada. J Sch Health. 2013;83:69–76.
14
Skinner K, Hanning RM, Metatawabin J, Martin ID, and Tsuji LJS. Impact of a school snack program on the dietary intake of grade six to ten First Nation students living in a remote community in northern Ontario, Canada. Rural Remote Health. 2012;12:2122.
15
Evans CEL, Christian MS, Cleghorn CL, Greenwood DC, and Cade JE. Systematic review and meta-analysis of school-based interventions to improve daily fruit and vegetable intake in children aged 5 to 12 y. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;96:889–901.
16
Government of Ontario. Healthy choices: How to make choices for a health life; 2014 [cited 2018 Aug 14]. Available from: https://www.ontario.ca/page/healthy-choices?_ga=2.11069492.1225153457.1530128872-412383868.1465223367.
17
He M, Beynon CE, Gritke JL, Henderson ML, Kurtz HM, Sangster Bouck M, St Onge RL, van Zandvoort MM, Chevrier-Lamoureux RD, and Warren CY. Children’s perceptions of the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Program in Ontario, Canada. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012;44:592–596.
18
Bouck MS, St Onge R, He M, Beynon C, Lemieux S, Khoshaba L, and Stewart S. Northern Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program: A process evaluation. Can J Diet Prac Res. 2011;72(1):14–22.
19
Chu YL, Farmer A, Fung C, Kuhle S, and Veugelers P. Fruit and vegetable preferences and intake among children in Alberta. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2013;74:21–27.
20
Wardle J, Herrera ML, Cooke L, and Gibson EL. Modifying children’s food preferences: The effects of exposure and reward on acceptance of an unfamiliar vegetable. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013;57:341–48.
21
Trofholz AC, Tate AD, Draxten ML, Neumark-Sztainer D, and Berge JM. Home food environment factors associated with the presence of fruit and vegetables at dinner: A direct observational study. Appetite. 2016;96:526–32.
22
Cutler GJ, Flood A, Hannan P, and Neumark-Sztainer D. Multiple sociodemographic and socioenvironmental characteristics are correlated with major patterns of dietary intake in adolescents. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111:230–40.
23
Wolnicka K, Taraszewska AM, Jaczewska-Schuetz J, and Jarosz M. Factors within the family environment such as parents’ dietary habits and fruit and vegetable availability have the greatest influence on fruit and vegetable consumption by Polish children. Public Health Nutr. 2015;18:2705–11.
24
Pearson N, Biddle SJ, and Gorely T. Family correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Public Health Nutr. 2009;12:267–83.
25
Niclasen B and Schnohr CW. Greenlandic schoolchildren’s compliance with national dietary guidelines. Public Health Nutr. 2010;13:1162–69.
26
Gorham G, Dulin-Keita A, Risica PM, Mello J, Papandonatos G, Nunn A, Gorham S, Roberson M, and Gans KM. Effectiveness of Fresh to You, a discount fresh fruit and vegetable market in low-income neighborhoods, on children’s fruit and vegetable consumption, Rhode Island, 2010–2011. Prev Chronic Dis. 2015;12:E176.
27
Ball K, Lamb KE, Costa C, Gutumisu N, Ellaway A, Kamphius CB, Mentz G, Pearce J, Santana P, Santos R, Schulz AJ, Spence JC, Thornton LE, van Lenthe FJ, and Zenk SN. Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and fruit and vegetable consumption: A seven countries comparison. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015;12:68.
28
Clarke AM, Ruxton CHS, Hetherington L, O’Neil S, and McMillan B. School intervention to improve preferences for fruit and vegetables. Nutr Food Sci. 2009;39:118–27.
29
Birch LL. Children’s preferences for high-fat foods. Nutr Rev. 1992;50:249–55.
30
Cooke LJ and Wardle J. Age and gender differences in children’s food preferences. Br J Nutr. 2005;93:741–46.
31
Perez-Rodrigo C, Ribas L, Serra-Majem LI, and Aranceta J. Food preferences of Spanish children and young people: The enKID study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2003;57(S1):s45–S48.
32
Storey KE, Montemurro G, Flynn J, Schwartz M, Wright E, Osler J, Veugelers PJ, and Roberts E. Essential conditions for the implementation of comprehensive school health to achieve changes in school culture and improvements in health behaviours of students. BMC Public Health. 2016;16:1133.
33
Santarossa S, Ciccone J, and Woodruff SJ. An evaluation of the Kinect-Ed presentation, a motivating nutrition and cooking intervention for young adolescents. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2015;40(9):945–50.
34
Larson NI, Story M, Eisenberg ME, and Neumark-Sztainer D. Food preparation and purchasing roles among adolescents: Associations with sociodemographic characteristics and diet quality. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106(2):211–18.
35
Gates M, Hanning RM, Gates A, Isogai A, Tsuji LJS, and Metatawabin J. A pilot comprehensive school nutrition program improves knowledge and intentions for intake of Milk and Milk Alternatives among youth in a remote First Nation. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45(5):455–59.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 80Number 2June 2019
Pages: 72 - 78

History

Version of record online: 7 February 2019

Authors

Affiliations

Sarah J. Woodruff PhD
Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Other Metrics

Citations

Cite As

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

1. Examining Elementary School Children’s Knowledge about Food and Nutrition in Southwestern Ontario, Canada

View Options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Subscribe

Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research

Purchase options

Purchase this article to get full access to it.

Restore your content access

Enter your email address to restore your content access:

Note: This functionality works only for purchases done as a guest. If you already have an account, log in to access the content to which you are entitled.

View options

PDF

View PDF

Full Text

View Full Text

Media

Media

Other

Tables

Share Options

Share

Share the article link

Share on social media