School Nutrition Services (SNS) Research

Publication: JAND

Date Published: August 2016

Reference: 

Adding a Social Marketing Campaign to a School-Based Nutrition Education Program Improves Children’s Dietary Intake: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Blitstein, Jonathan L. et al.
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 116, Issue 8, 1285 - 1294

Key Takeaways: A quasi-experimental study in 2016 evaluated the impact of adding a parent-focused social marketing campaign to a school-based nutrition education program on children's dietary intake. The study included 1037 students in third grade from 33 elementary schools in Iowa who were divided into 3 groups. A school-based nutrition education program (BASICS), a combined school-based and social marketing intervention (BASICS Plus), and a no-treatment comparison group. The BASICS group increased fruit consumption by .16 cups while BASICS PLUS increased consumption by .17 cups compared to the comparison group. BASICS PLUS increased vegetable consumption by .13 cups more than the comparison groups, and BASICS PLUS participants were more likely to use low-fat or fat-free milk than the other 2 groups.

#Interventions