Pertinence of the recent school-based nutrition interventions targeting fruit and vegetable consumption in the United States:a systematic review.
BACKGROUND
Schools are the major locations for implementing children's dietary behavior related educational or interventional programs. Recently, there has been an increase in school-based nutrition interventions. The objective of this systematic review was to overview the evidence for the effectiveness of school-based nutrition intervention on fruit and vegetable consumption.


METHODS
PubMed was used to search for articles on school-based nutrition interventions that measured students' fruit and vegetable consumption. Our search yielded 238 articles.The article was included if published in a peer-reviewed journal, written in English language,administered in the United States, and conducted among a population-based sample of children in Kindergarten through eighth grade. A total of 14 publications met the inclusion criteria.


RESULTS
Eight articles successfully showed the positive effect on increasing fruit and or vegetable consumption while the other six did not. Several factors, including (but not limited to) intervention duration, type of theory used, style of intervention leadership, and positively affecting antecedents of fruit and vegetable consumption were compared; however, no dominant factor was found to be shared among the studies with significant findings. Given that the criteria for selection were high, the lack of consistency between interventions and positive outcomes was surprising.


CONCLUSIONS
With high levels of scrutiny and budget constraints on school nutrition, it is imperative that more research be conducted to identify the effective intervention components.
Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi, 108 Lenoir Hall, PO Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Christopher R
CR
Aloia
Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi, 108 Lenoir Hall, PO Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Taylor A
TA
Shockey
Department of Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science, Lincoln Memorial University, Mary Mars, 6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway, Harrogate, TN 37752, USA; Department of Health, Exercise Science & Recreation Management, The University of Mississippi, 215 Turner Center, PO Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Vinayak K
VK
Nahar
Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi, 108 Lenoir Hall, PO Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Kathy B
KB
Knight
Fruit and vegetable consumption; Nutrition intervention; School; Systematic Review