Improving Children's Diets by Introducing Fruits and Vegetables in Group-Based Settings: A Scoping Review

In 2022, less than 18% of UK children aged 5-7 years consumed 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, with an average intake of 3 portions per day. Group settings (eg, schools or nurseries) present an opportunity to apply policies to encourage children's consumption of novel and healthy foods.

The extent and types of evidence regarding efforts to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables by young children in group settings who reside in high-income countries was investigated in this scoping review.

A systematic scoping review was conducted that followed the JBI guidelines and included articles, published from 2012 onward, about methods to increase consumption of novel and/or healthy foods by children aged 3-7 years in settings within local government control and who were residing in high-income countries.

A total of 7000 articles were initially identified, of which 114 were included in this review after screening.

Intervention methods included an array of different techniques from educational programs to repeated exposure, food modification, and behavioral modeling approaches.

Interventions administered to children aged between 3 and 7 years in group-based settings have been shown to improve the consumption of healthy foods, specifically fruits and vegetables. Behavioral modeling and sensory play interventions, in particular, present the highest level of success.