A 'five-a-day' fruit and vegetable pack for primary school children. Part II: controlled evaluation in two Scottish schools

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Abstract
A pack to encourage primary school children to consume more fruit and vegetables consists of a fridge chart, a set of cardboard counters with pictures of fruit and vegetable characters, a portion guide, instructions for use and a record book. The pack was piloted in a controlled study in two Lothian schools in May and June 1997. Data were collected on four occasions with a 'Day in the Life' questionnaire, focus-group discussions and short questionnaire at the end of the study. Full sets of data were available for 99 of 113 children from the rolls of two P3 and two P4 classes. The packs were popular with the children who said that they had used them regularly during the study period. The children also reported that the packs encouraged them to eat more fruit (71 per cent) and more vegetables (59 per cent) but consumption, measured by the Day in the Life questionnaire, remained low throughout. Mean portions of fruit, fruit juice and vegetables showed small increases following the inter vention, but standard deviations were large. It was concluded that the packs are promising in their appeal to children and that future work will need to involve individual classroom teachers, the school catering service and the children's families to maximise support.