Interventions for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nutrition
• Public Health Interventions
• Dietary Behavior Research

Background:

• Low fruit and vegetable intake in childhood elevates future chronic disease risk, including cardiovascular disease.
• Establishing healthy eating habits early is crucial for long-term health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and adverse events of interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five and under.
• To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials on pediatric dietary interventions.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 10,267 participants.
• Included interventions focused on child-feeding practices, parent nutrition education, and multicomponent approaches.
• Assessed risk of bias and used GRADE approach for evidence quality evaluation.

Main Results:

• Child-feeding practices showed a small, statistically significant increase in vegetable consumption (SMD 0.38), but with very low-quality evidence.
• Parent nutrition education and multicomponent interventions did not demonstrate significant short-term effects on fruit and vegetable intake.
• Insufficient data precluded assessment of long-term effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and adverse events.

Conclusions:

• Current evidence on interventions to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in young children is sparse and of very low quality.
• While child-feeding practices show a marginal effect on vegetable intake, the small effect size and low evidence quality necessitate caution.
• Future research with rigorous methodologies is essential to advance understanding and develop effective strategies for promoting healthy eating in children.