Effectiveness of the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child's Health) Rainbow Program in Elementary Schools for Change in Fruit and Vegetable Intake.

BACKGROUND

Nutrition, cooking, and gardening lessons individually and together have been shown to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in school-aged children. The CATCH Rainbow program incorporated nutrition education, cooking, and gardening lessons aimed at increasing FV consumption in elementary school-aged children and assessed changes in participants' BMI, self-reported FV consumption, and skin carotenoid levels at baseline and post-intervention.

METHODS

Two-hundred and twenty-five 4th and 5th graders (mean age: 9.8 years and 52% male participants) at Genoa Elementary School participated in six cooking and six gardening sessions between September 2021 and May 2022. Each nutrition education session was 25 min long, paired with either hands-on cooking activities or gardening skills. At baseline and post-intervention, participants' height and weight were assessed with a stadiometer/scale, and skin carotenoid measurement was taken by a Veggie Meter

RESULTS

paired samples

CONCLUSIONS

Results from this study can be used to guide future cooking and gardening programs for elementary school children. Time of the year when implementing these programs and collecting data may impact study outcomes due to seasonal variations in fruit and vegetable intake.