Effect of a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program on Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Ridberg, Ronit A. ; Bell, Janice F. ; Merritt, Kathryn E. ; Harris, Diane M. ; Young, Heather M. ; Tancredi, Daniel J.
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Most children in families with low income do not meet dietary guidance on fruit and vegetable consumption. Fruit and vegetable prescription programs improve access to and affordability of health-supporting foods for adults, but their effect on dietary behavior among children is not known. The objective of this study was to describe the extent to which exposure to a fruit and vegetable prescription program was associated with changes in consumption among participants aged 2 to 18.
  
  Methods
  
  We used data from a modified National Cancer Institute screener to calculate fruit and vegetable intake among 883 children who were overweight or had obesity and participated in a 4- to 6-month fruit and vegetable prescription program at federally qualified health centers during 4 years (2012-2015). Secondary analyses in 2017 included paired t tests to compare change in fruit and vegetable consumption (cups/day) between first and last visits and multivariable linear regressions, including propensity dose–adjusted models, to model this change as a function of sociodemographic and program-specific covariates, such as number of clinical visits and value of prescription redemption.
  
  Results
  
  We found a dose propensity–adjusted increase of 0.32 cups (95% confidence interval, 0.19–0.45 cups) for each additional visit while holding constant the predicted number of visits and site. An equal portion of the change-score increase was attributed to vegetable consumption and fruit consumption (β = 0.16 for each).
  
  Conclusion
  
  Fruit and vegetable prescription programs in clinical settings may increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children in low-income households. Future research should use a comparison group and consider including qualitative analysis of site-specific barriers and facilitators to success.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Original Research
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 16
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  31198165
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6583818
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  16
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9891dd4c85570e6cebacf4678214b132047415310665a4974d8a5aa0880ea1701a9f9eb72652a76b3ea9cfeb1d1ed9d4fd6ae14cc438b559f76d77c7f0712e4a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/79570/cdc_79570_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 357.31 KB ]