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

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nutrition
• Public Health Interventions
• Non-Communicable Disease Prevention

Background:

• Insufficient fruit and vegetable intake in childhood elevates the risk of future non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease.
• Interventions are needed to increase children's consumption of fruits and vegetables to mitigate long-term health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the benefits and harms of interventions aimed at increasing fruit and/or vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including cluster-RCTs and cross-over trials.
• Included interventions targeted fruit/vegetable consumption in children aged five and under, compared against no-intervention controls.
• Data extraction and risk of bias assessments were performed independently by two reviewers, with disagreements resolved by a third.

Main Results:

• Child-feeding practice interventions showed a small positive effect on vegetable consumption (15.5g increase), with moderate certainty evidence.
• Multicomponent interventions demonstrated a small effect on fruit and vegetable consumption (0.34 cups/day increase), supported by moderate certainty evidence.
• Parent nutrition education interventions had little to no short-term impact on fruit and vegetable consumption, based on low certainty evidence.

Conclusions:

• Child-feeding practices and multicomponent interventions offer modest benefits for increasing fruit and vegetable intake in young children.
• Parent nutrition education appears less effective in the short term; further research on costs, adverse effects, and diverse settings is recommended.
• This living systematic review is continuously updated to incorporate new evidence on childhood fruit and vegetable consumption interventions.