Effect of nutrition intervention using a general nutrition course for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among college students.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of implementing nutrition intervention using a general nutrition class to promote consumption of fruits and vegetables in college students. DESIGN: 3-day food records were collected, verified, and analyzed before and after the intervention. SETTING: A midwestern university. PARTICIPANTS: 80 college students, ages 18 to 24, participated in the study. INTERVENTION: The intervention focused on nutrition knowledge related to prevention of chronic diseases, healthful dietary choices increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, dietary feedback, and interactive hands-on activities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Consumption of: total vegetable, fresh vegetable, starchy vegetable, french fries, vegetable juice, total fruit, fresh fruit, canned fruit, and fruit juice. ANALYSIS: Dependent t test was used to analyze the differences in pre- and posttest. Analysis of variance was used to determine differences in dietary changes between groups. RESULTS: Participants significantly increased consumption of not only total fruits and vegetables (P < .005), but also fresh fruits and vegetables (P < .005). Intake of french fries decreased significantly (P < .05). Females responded better to the intervention than males in increasing vegetable consumption (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Class-based nutrition intervention focusing on prevention of chronic diseases is a cost-effective approach to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among college students.