Impact of Nutrition Education on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Elementary Aged Children

New national school lunch nutrition guidelines implemented in 2012 require children to select three of the five food groups with at least one selection being a half-cup of fruit or vegetables. Despite controversy surrounding plate waste, previous studies have shown that it takes eight nutrition lessons with consistent reinforcement before improvement in fruit and vegetable consumption will be seen. This study examined the effect one wellness and nutrition lesson plan had on fruit and vegetable consumption and plate waste. The population for this study was 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders from three elementary schools differing in the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch. A lesson focusing on MyPlate was presented to the students with a pre- survey to assess their knowledge. The following day, a MyPlate board was presented to the lunchroom to reinforce concepts. Students’ knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption was evaluated with a post-survey and post-plate waste measurements. Students had a higher level of knowledge pertaining to MyPlate after the nutrition lesson. Plate waste during the post-measurement show slightly fewer servings of food discarded. These findings indicate that with nutrition education, children’s level of knowledge increases but plate waste decreases just slightly