Fourth-grade children's consumption of fruit and vegetable items available as part of school lunches is closely related to preferences.
OBJECTIVE
To use data from observations and interviews to document fourth-graders' preferences for, and consumption of, fruits compared to vegetables available as part of school lunches.


METHODS
Observations and interviews were conducted for studies regarding the impact of time interval between eating and reporting on the accuracy of children's school lunch recalls.


METHODS
Children were recruited from up to 4 schools in one district during 3 school years; 63% agreed to participate. Randomly selected children (n = 237) were each observed eating school lunch once and were interviewed (regarding items eaten and preferences for items eaten) within 11/2 hours or the next morning.


METHODS
Observed consumption of servings of items available as part of school lunch was recorded as none, taste, little bit, half, most, and all. Response options for preferences for items available as part of school lunch were liked not at all, a little, and a lot.


METHODS
Mixed-model analysis of variance.


RESULTS
Preferences were higher for fruits than vegetables. As preferences increased, consumption increased (P <.0001). Consumption of fruits compared to vegetables was similar after adjusting for preferences.


CONCLUSIONS
Research is needed to understand how to increase children's preferences for vegetables as a means of increasing consumption.
Baxter
Suzanne Domel
SD
Georgia Prevention Institute, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia 30912-3710, USA. sbaxter@mail.mcg.edu
Thompson
William O
WO
D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005522:Food Services; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D014675:Vegetables