Getting Kids to Taste Fruits & Veggies Pamela Williams, MPH, RDN Nutritionist Nutrition Services, Newport Mesa Unified School District

Transcription

1 Getting Kids to Taste Fruits & Veggies Pamela Williams, MPH, RDN Nutritionist Nutrition Services, Newport Mesa Unified School District CSNA s 63 rd Annual Conference November xx, 2015 Ontario, CA

2 Why Fruits & Veggies? Various health benefits Supports Learning Currently Low nutrient intakes Lowers risk of chronic disease

3 Health Benefits Excellent source of: vitamins & minerals Fiber Colors & other plant ingredients

4 Supports Learning Healthy choices - Improve recall for test taking - Help to excel on certain math problems - Help support paying attention in class - Support overall brain function

5 Low Nutrient Intakes Only 2% of children (2 19 years old) meet USDA s recommendation for a healthy diet Children need more fruits & veggies to supply the body with much needed nutrients

6 Lower Risk of Chronic Disease heart disease, stroke, & some cancers, help prevent body weight gain. May prevent body weight gain & may also lower risk of type 2 diabetes. may also lower risk of certain eye diseases, dementia and osteoporosis.

7 Major Goal of Dietary Guidelines for Americans Consume more of certain foods and nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fatfree and low-fat dairy products, and seafood.

8 Can schools help students eat fruits/vegetables? Childhood Obesity, June 2015 Researchers looked at food consumption & food waste in 12 schools Fruit choices increased from 54% 66% Vegetable selection dropped but those who selected ate 20% more than before USDA Fact Sheet Plate waste is not increasing in spite of the increased fruits and vegetables that have been added to the menu Students eat 16% more vegetables & 23% more fruit at lunch.

9 Objective: To encourage students to taste a fruit or vegetable and form an opinion concerning whether they liked it or not.

10 Materials Pre-existing program: Harvest of the Month Program Samples of produce distributed in the classroom Teachers received lessons and Educator s newsletter for each produce Parents received letters with recipes and whenever possible encouraged parents to try recipe with HOTM fruit/veggie

11 Materials January Blood oranges February Edamame March Sugar snap peas April Rainbow carrots May Raspberries May Blueberries

12 Materials Bright yellow card stock 8 ½ x 11 two for each sign (1 happy face * 1 sad face) Wooden chopsticks Lime green duct tape Staples Laminated the card stock after faces were drawn

13 Subjects Four Schools Sonora Elementary 621 students Paularino Elementary 556 students College Park Elementary 640 students Killybrooke Elementary 479 students Kindergarten 6 th grade students

14 Methods 2 3 persons visited school during lunch & tracked: # of participants First time consumers Likes Dislikes Weeded out repeaters

15 Methods Pass out emoticon signs Gave them instructions on how to vote/share opinion Distributed samples Students voted Tallied opinions Returned emoticon signs

16

17 Results Each month averaged 776 student participants during lunch # of students participating in one month - Highest: 928 students and lowest, 645 students Overall 93 percent of the students who tasted the fruits and/or vegetables liked them.

18 Results Jan Blood Oranges 906 Feb Edamame 928 Mar Sugar Snap Peas 675 Apr Carrots 645 May Raspberries 758 May Blueberries - 749

19 Elementary Schools (Total school pop.: Pre-school 6th grade) January Blood Oranges February Edamame March Sugar Snap Peas April Rainbow Carrots May Raspberries May Blueberries Like Dislike Like Dislike Like Dislike Like Dislike Like Dislike Like Dislike Sonora 621 Students Paularino 556 Students College Park 640 students Killybrooke 479 Students

20 A few other points Students volunteered to share their opinions The most popular - edamame but also the most dislikes During the five-month project there were 4,661 taste tests Students expressed positive feedback for most produce featured Many of the students were willing to eat produce again

21 Summary Students who tried fruits & vegetables do form opinions on taste preferences This is an economical way to encourage students to taste new produce during lunch & possibly make it a part of school lunch