Project FIT: A School, Community and Social Marketing Intervention Improves Healthy Eating Among Low-Income Elementary School Children

Project FIT was a two-year multi-component nutrition and physical activity intervention delivered in ethnically-diverse low-income elementary schools in Grand Rapids, MI. This paper reports effects on children's nutrition outcomes and process evaluation of the school component. A quasi-experimental design was utilized. 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade students (Yr 1 baseline: N = 410; Yr 2 baseline: N = 405; age range: 7.5-12.6 years) were measured in the fall and spring over the two-year intervention. Ordinal logistic, mixed effect models and generalized estimating equations were fitted, and the robust standard errors were utilized. Primary outcomes favoring the intervention students were found regarding consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grain bread during year 2. Process evaluation revealed that implementation of most intervention components increased during year 2. Project FIT resulted in small but beneficial effects on consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain bread in ethnically diverse low-income elementary school children.Project FIT was a collaboration among Michigan State University, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Valley State University, Kent County Michigan State University Extension, the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, Neighborhood Ventures, Inc. and a multitude of community partners. Funding was provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Nutrition Education, supported by the Michigan Department of Human Services under contract numbers ADMIN-10-99010 and ADMIN 11-99010, and Grand Rapids Public Schools Nutrition Services. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Grand Rapids Public Schools Nutrition Services participated in the study design. The authors express their great appreciation to the staff and students at the participating Project FIT schools, the members of the Project FIT Advisory Committee, as well as Julie Orth, Sue Randall, Paul Baumgartner, Sarah Byler, Anne King, Marilyn Vander Werf, Patricia Shafer, Mark Lewis, Steve Faber, Hyun Jung Oh, Yumi Jung, Kellie Mayfield, Deanne Kelleher, Carrie Banner, Katie Murtha, and Aliya Bahjet for their participation in intervention design and/or implementation. Karen Petersmarck assisted with manuscript preparation. The authors had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis