Small school-based effectiveness trials increase vegetable and fruit consumption among youth

This article profiles a research initiative of state health agency-initiated 5 A Day school-based interventions. Four of the seven projects reviewed had significant results, with an average effect size of 0.4 servings of vegetables and fruit. Results are comparable with the larger-scale, well-controlled, and more costly 5 A Day For Better Health efficacy trials. These comparable findings underscore the value of assessing effectiveness of interventions in real-world settings to potentially enable wide-scale implementation of tested strategies. These small effectiveness trials show that school-based interventions are feasible to implement using current and effective strategies, and may facilitate translation of health promotion research to practice. The projects fostered valuable research/practice partnerships at the community level. Limitations across studies included heterogeneity in research methods, participant attrition, and variability in reporting data. Further research is needed to develop standardized, cost-effective dietary assessment methodology for viable dissemination research in community settings.