Pres pilot school fruit and veg 122013

Encouraging Consumption of Fresh Vegetables and Fruit Among Elementary

School Pupils

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – Research, Economy and Strategy Division

Presentation at

WealthR Academic Workshop,

December 9, 2013

Yael Kachel ,Tsipi Fridkin Research, Economy and Strategy

Division

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development

1

http://www.moag.gov.il/


Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – Research, Economy and Strategy Division 2

Background

• Overweight and obesity on the increase in

Israel: Ynet 3/12/2013: One out of three children – overweight

The State Comptroller (2011): 61% of population in Israel

overweight (68% in the US), 13.6% of them obese,

children: 26% overweight (35% in the US)

• Lifestyle changes: decreased physical activity,

convenience food

• Decreasing fruit and vegetable consumption

Negative impact on health !



Source: OECD, 2012 (Z. Stahl, Ministry of Health, 2012)



Source: own calculations based on CBS data,

2012 – preliminary data

Israel - Per Capita Supply of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables



Can schools make a difference to children’s fruit and vegetable consumption ?

De Sa, Lock (Eur. J. Publ. Health 2008): Review – In 70% out of 30 studies

fruit and vegetable consumption increased as a result of school

interventions, some evidence of positive long-term impact on consumption.

Horne et al. (Eur. J. Clinical Nutrition 2009): Food Dudes intervention

significantly increased fruit and vegetable consumption, positive long-term

impact.

Ransley (Public Health Nutrition 2010): Provision of free fruit in England

increases children’s intake of fruit and vegetables but not sustained beyond

the intervention.

Delgado-Noguera et al. (Preventive Medicine 2011): Meta-analysis of 19

trials: computer-based interventions were effective in increasing fruit and

vegetable consumption, free provision of fruit/vegetables not effective (2

studies).

Positive impact depends on the details of the program


Encouraging vegetable and fruit consumption of pupils through exposure to a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits at school and joint consumption in the classroom

The Goal of the

School Fruit and Vegetable Program:


Part of the National Program for an Active and Healthy Lifestyle



Principles of the School Fruit and Vegetable Program

1. Free delivery - participation of all children in school

2. Consumption in the classroom during recess - creating shared consumption experience

3. Repeated exposure to a variety of vegetables and fruits - repeated exposure necessary to adopt new flavors

4. Educational accompanying measures

5. Parental involvement - necessary to change pupils habits

6. Evaluation - pupils habits before and after intervention



Pilot program:

Key figures for 2013

5,000 pupils

2 local authorities: Jewish and

Arab (Holon and Tura’n)

9 schools

0.5 million NIS funding by the

Ministry of Agriculture

Target group: school children

aged 6-12

Full cooperation of the

Agriculture, Education and

Health Ministries, the Plant

Board and the local authorities



- From February 2013 to the end of the school year

- Two servings of vegetables/fruit per week

- Consumption during the breakfast break, in the presence of a teacher

- Schools supported the program by educational activities offered by the

Ministry of Education

- Schools appointed a responsible teacher and cooperated with program

evaluation (questionnaires for students, teachers and parents)

Operation of the Pilot Program in 2013

Evaluation of two kinds of packaging/preparation:

• Phase 1: whole fruit / vegetables, bulk packaging

• Phase 2: fresh-cut, individually packed portions (60-80 gram)



School in Tur'an, 27/02/13


Individual portion


Educational measures:

Vegetables and fruits in the mirror of:

Art Reading comprehension




Results – Questionnaire Pupils

Did you eat yesterday …. ? % of pupils eating the food at least once, n = 1318 (Holon), 722 (Tura’n)

Holon Tura'n

before after before after

Fresh fruit 71.2% 73.8% 78.6% 84.8%

Fresh veg./salad 73.9% 75.2% 78.3% 75.0%

Cooked veg./soup 46.1% 39.3% 62.6% 50.2%

Sweet snacks 72.3% 67.1% 86.0% 78.6%

Salty snacks 52.8% 51.5% 76.4% 71.3%

Bold: differences are significant at the 5% level

* Probably a decline in soup consumption explained by different seasons (first

questionnaire at the start of the project in winter, second questionnaire in May)

? *



Results – Questionnaire Parents

Increase in ….

% of parents answering the questionnaire, n = 277 (Holon), 180 (Tura’n)

Remaining answers: mainly “no change”



Results – Interviews Headmasters

Key factors for success: individual packaging,

punctual delivery

Variety important, including vegetables and fruit

consumed less frequently

Importance of interaction and discussion in classroom,

encourages kids to taste new fruits and vegetables

Important project for educating children and parents to

change consumption habits


Positive feedback of pupils, teachers and parents

Results indicate positive impact on consumption habits

Possible improvements (preliminary): more parental involvement,

integration with other educational measures

Summary and Conclusions:




• Should schools be selected based on socio – economic criteria ?

• Cost efficiency of intervention:

Can alternative programs with lower costs achieve similar results ?

Can local food supply chains decrease costs ? On expense of variety ?

Questions for discussion:




Thank you for your

attention !



Economy & Finance

Pres pilot school fruit and veg 122013