Evaluating the efficacy of a nutrition education mini lesson series

Objective: To assess the impact of a nutrition education mini lesson series on children's knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption.;Design: Quasi-experimental pre-/post-test design with two study conditions (experimental and control). Setting: Four (4) Boys & Girls Clubs in Providence, Rhode Island.;Participants: Eighty-four (84) children ages 5-11 years. Intervention: Participants in the experimental group received a 4-week fruit and vegetable nutrition education series. Subjects in the control condition received 2 lessons unrelated to fruits and vegetables. Children from both the experimental and control groups completed pre- and post-surveys one week before and after the intervention.;Main Outcome Measures: Knowledge of recommended fruit and vegetable intakes and fruit and vegetable consumption.;Results: The intervention group increased fruit and vegetable knowledge as compared to the control group (p<0.05). There were no differences between groups for fruit and vegetable consumption. No relation was found between attendance rate and consumption among participants in the experimental condition.;Conclusion and Implications: This intervention effectively increased fruit and vegetable knowledge of children ages 5-11 years in an afterschool care setting. Future research is needed to determine if adopting additional or alternate intervention techniques can improve the behaviors of children in this setting.