Nutrition education intervention by teachers may promote fruit and vegetable consumption in Italian students

This research evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based intervention by the classroom teacher compared to a nutritionist-based intervention in promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in children. The name of this study was “Bring some fruit to school” (“Porta la frutta a scuola” in Italian). In this randomized controlled trial, the primary end point was an increase in the children's consumption of fruit, vegetables, and legumes and a decrease in consumption of chips and sugar-sweetened drinks. Twenty fourth-grade elementary classes enrolling 521 students were assigned to 1 of the 2 nutrition education interventions. At 36 weeks, 471 students had completed the study. At the end of the study, the teacher intervention group (n = 228) increased consumption of fruit, vegetables, and legumes in 107 (47%), 132 (58%), and 73 (32%) children, respectively, and a decrease in consumption of chips and sugar-sweetened drinks in 106 (47%) and 78 (34%), respectively; the nutritionist intervention group (n = 243) reported increased consumption of fruit and vegetables in 121 (26%) and 86 (18.2%) but decreased consumption of legumes in 12 (3%) of children, respectively, and a decrease in the consumption of chips and sugar-sweetened drinks in 88 (19%) and 13 (3%), respectively. This study implies that nutrition education intervention by teachers may promote fruit, vegetable, and legume consumption in elementary school–age children.