Abstract
Background
Despite many health benefits, children do not consume enough fruits and vegetables
(F/V). The Food Dudes program increases in-school F/V consumption, but the cost of
prizes might be an adoption barrier.
Objective
Our aim was to compare the effects of the Food Dudes program when prizes vs praise
are used to reward F/V consumption.
Design
We conducted a randomized controlled trial with three groups (ie, prize, praise, and
control). Schools were randomly assigned to groups while approximately equating the
percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. F/V consumption
(lunch-tray photos) was assessed twice at pre-intervention and once after phase I,
phase II, and at 6 months post-intervention, spanning approximately 11 months overall.
Participants/setting
In total, 2,292 students attending six elementary schools participated, with 882,
640, and 770 in the prize, praise, and control groups, respectively.
Intervention
The Food Dudes program was implemented over 4.5 months in all but the control schools.
Two Food Dudes schools implemented the program with tangible prizes contingent on
individual students’ F/V consumption (prize group); two schools implemented Food Dudes
using teacher praise instead of prizes (praise group). Follow-up data were collected
6 months post-intervention.
Main outcome measure
F/V consumption was assessed by digital imaging of lunch trays.
Statistical analysis performed
Linear mixed-effects modeling, including sex, grade, and baseline consumption as covariates,
was performed.
Results
Students attending the Food Dudes schools consumed more F/V than control schools after
phase I, with larger differences in prize schools (92% difference) than praise schools
(50% difference). After phase II, Food Dudes schools consumed 46% more F/V than control
schools, with no difference between prize and praise schools. At 6-month follow-up,
only prize schools consumed more F/V than control schools (0.12 cups more per child,
42.9% difference).
Conclusions
Social praise proved an inadequate substitute for tangible prizes within the Food
Dudes program. Program-related increases in F/V consumption decreased after the intervention,
underscoring the need to develop low-cost, long-term interventions to maintain and
make habitual consumption of recommended levels of F/V.
Keywords
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Biography
B. A. Morrill is an educational researcher, Schell Games, Pittsburgh, PA; at the time of the study, she was a graduate research assistant, Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan.
Biography
G. J. Madden is a professor, Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan.
Biography
J. D. Fargo is an associate professor, Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan.
Biography
H. J. Wengreen is an associate professor, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan.
Biography
S. S. Aguilar is a senior research dietitian, Center for Human Nutrition Studies, Utah State University, Logan.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 18, 2015
Accepted:
July 1,
2015
Received:
October 3,
2014
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This research was supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture (59-5000-0-0065 and 59-5000-1-0033).
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
