Increasing the Variety of Vegetables and Fruits Served to Preschool Children at a Snack

Summary

Intake of vegetables and fruits in preschool children is less than recommended amounts. Although offering a variety of foods has been shown to increase intake, this effect has not been well studied for low-energy-dense foods. The purpose of this study was to test whether increasing the variety of vegetables and fruits served to preschool children affected the amount eaten. The hypotheses were that increasing the variety of vegetables and fruits would increase both the amount selected and the amount eaten.

Conditions

• Obesity
• Feeding Behaviors

Interventions

OTHER

Cucumber snack

Three 300-g bowls of vegetables per table: three of cucumber slices

OTHER

Pepper snack

Three 300-g bowls of vegetables per table: three of yellow pepper strips

OTHER

Tomato snack

Three 300-g bowls of vegetables per table: three of grape tomatoes

OTHER

Vegetable variety snack

Three 300-g bowls of vegetables per table: one each of cucumber slices, pepper strips, and grape tomatoes

OTHER

Apple snack

Three 300-g bowls of fruits per table: three of apple wedges

OTHER

Peach snack

Three 300-g bowls of fruits per table: three of peach slices

OTHER

Pineapple snack

Three 300-g bowls of fruits per table: three of pineapple half-rings

OTHER

Fruit variety snack

Three 300-g bowls of fruits per table: of each of apple wedges, peach slices, and pineapple half-rings

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

  collaborator NIH

• Penn State University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Barbara J. Rolls, PhD · Penn State University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

3 Years

Max Age

6 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-01-31

Primary Completion

2011-04-30

Completion

2011-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations