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

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Childhood underconsumption of fruits and vegetables elevates future non-communicable disease risk, including cardiovascular disease.
• Early childhood interventions targeting fruit and vegetable intake may mitigate long-term health burdens.

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.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of 63 randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
• 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 positive effect on vegetable consumption (very low-quality evidence).
• Multicomponent interventions demonstrated a very small effect on combined fruit and vegetable intake (low-quality evidence).
• Effectiveness of parent nutrition education remains uncertain (very low-quality evidence).

Conclusions:

• Current evidence for increasing children's fruit and vegetable intake is limited and of low quality.
• Future research with rigorous methods and long-term follow-up is crucial.
• This is a living systematic review, continuously updated with new evidence.