title: Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among preschoolers: evaluation of color me healthy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Determine whether Color Me Healthy (CMH), an interactive nutrition and physical activity program for preschool children, increases fruit and vegetable consumption.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intervention study. Data were collected at baseline, 1 week post-intervention, and 3 months post-intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child care centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preschool children (n = 263) in 17 child care centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child care centers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions; children (n = 165) in 10 centers received the CMH curriculum, and children (n = 98) in 7 centers acted as comparisons and did not receive the curriculum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Process and outcome evaluation. Consumption of fruit and vegetable snacks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and hierarchical linear modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children who received CMH significantly increased their consumption of fruit snacks by approximately 20.8% and vegetable snacks by approximately 33.1% between baseline assessment and the assessment conducted 3 months after the completion of the CMH program. Hierarchical linear modeling determined that group assignment (ie, CMH or control) was the only significant predictor of fruit and vegetable consumption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that CMH may be used in child care settings for developing healthful eating habits.
authors.affiliation: Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health, Meridian, ID 83642, USA. kwitt@bcidaho.com
authors.forename: Kendra E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D053180:Animal Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014675:Vegetables