Educational programs in schools have been shown to effectively improve demand for healthier eating habits among students. A notable study conducted over two years across 46 low-income elementary schools in Arkansas, Iowa, New York, and Washington included a total of 2,767 children. The schools were divided into two groups: an intervention group, which received gardens and educational curricula, and a control group.
Key Findings of the Study
The study focused on the intervention fidelity level, which refers to the extent to which the intervention was delivered as intended. At the highest fidelity level (level 4), the percentage of fruit consumption among students increased from 53.3% to 65.95%, highlighting the effectiveness of educational curricula in promoting healthier eating habits.
While educational programs, when rigorously implemented, yielded significant improvements in fruit consumption, sensory nudges in the form of gardening and tasting sessions produced more consistent results. Specifically, the study found that:
- Gardening activities with fidelity levels 2, 3, and 4 led to increases in fruit consumption of 17%, 9%, and 17%, respectively.
- Educational lessons with fidelity levels 2, 3, and 4 resulted in increases of 2%, 14%, and 13%, respectively.
These findings suggest that while lessons did lead to some increase in fruit consumption, gardening and tasting sessions showed a higher net positive effect.
Impact on Vegetable Consumption
The study also compared the effects of the intervention on vegetable consumption:
- Lessons with fidelity levels 2, 3, and 4 showed changes of -9%, <1%, and +12% in vegetable consumption, respectively.
- Gardening activities with fidelity levels 2, 3, and 4 showed changes of -4%, +2%, and +12%, respectively.
This further supports the idea that sensory nudge interventions, such as gardening, had a more significant and consistent impact on the demand for healthier food choices.
Conclusion and Limitations
Despite some limitations, such as baseline differences between intervention and control schools and inconsistent food presentation, the study’s use of randomized control and intervention groups across various states minimized the variability in the data. This strengthens the reliability of the results, especially in comparing the effects of educational curricula and behavioral nudges.
Ultimately, while educational curricula were effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, sensory nudges generally showed more consistent and positive results. These findings suggest that a combination of educational programs and behavioral nudges is the most effective approach to improving students’ eating habits.
