Evaluation of Attitudes and Knowledge of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Second Graders: The Pick a Better Snack and Act Program

Objective To determine whether statistical evidence exists to indicate that the PBSA program is effective in changing children's attitudes about fruits and vegetables and increasing knowledge of fruits and vegetables. Also, to obtain significant information from faculty members on the importance of the PBSA program. Methods Differences in attitudes and knowledge gained among the second graders will be evaluated the first year using one way analysis of variance and independent sample t test. Descriptive statistics will be used the second and third year. Results In the intervention group there was a significant change in attitudes on if students would choose fruits and vegetables as snacks than the control group (p <.05). There were significant increases in knowledge gain when analyzing the vegetables cauliflower and sweet potato between the intervention and control groups (p <.05). There were significant increases in knowledge gain between the intervention and control groups when analyzing the fruits mango, pear, avocado, and kiwi (p <.05). All teachers reported that they valued the PBSA program greatly, and they were very satisfied with the program. Conclusion PBSA program can have positive changes in children's attitudes towards fruits and vegetables and increase knowledge of fruits and vegetables. The materials were well liked by teachers and fit within existing classroom curricula.