The Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme Presented by Pauline Kelly UK/International Food Dudes Project Coordinator
Behavioural Goal: To increase consumption of fruit and vegetables in primary school children +
Why Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake? Adult recommended daily intake = 400g Average British daily intake = 250g Worldwide obesity crisis We must change eating habits
Health Benefits of Fruit and Vegetables Help prevent obesity Protect against many cancers Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease Help prevent diabetes Protect against asthma Keep skin, teeth and hair healthy
Traditional Approach: Health Education Changes knowledge, beliefs and attitudes but not actual eating habits/behaviour. Changing F&V consumption is key!
The Food Dudes Programme Designed by psychologists, based on behavioural principles and theory. Brings about major and long-lasting change
The Food Dudes 3 Rs Role Modelling help to establish and maintain behaviour Rewards (extrinsic) Repeated Tasting intrinsic rewards in eating F&V
The Food Dudes 3 Rs
Phase 1 (16 days) - Each day children are given a portion of fruit and a portion of veg -repeated tasting. - DVD episodes and letters from the Food Dudes role-models for children to imitate. - Children who eat a portion of fruit AND veg are given a small reward. - A Home Pack encourages children to eat more f&v at home.
Phase 1 (16 days) Days 1-4: Children earn a reward by tasting both their fruit and vegetable. Days 5-16: Children earn a reward by eating a portion of their fruit and a portion of their veg. A portion is roughly the amount that fits into the child s cupped hand
Phase 2 (ongoing) - Focus shifts to F&V eaten at school lunchtime. Day 17: - Reward given for home consumption during Phase 1. - Homepack 2 (letter, bookmark and F&V boxes). Ongoing: - Children receive handstamps for eating F&V at lunchtime. - Teachers record progress on a classroom Wallchart. - Rewards given when children achieve targets on the Wallchart.
Why Does Food Dudes Work? The DVD episodes and rewards encourage children to taste fruit and vegetables repeatedly. Children discover the intrinsically rewarding properties of these foods and develop a taste for them. Children come to see themselves as fruit and vegetable eaters and are proud of it. The Programme creates a culture, both at school and at home, that strongly supports the eating of fruit and vegetables.
- Large increases in consumption. Results - Greatest increases in consumption shown by those children who are the poorest eaters. - Increases in consumption are long-lasting. - Increases extend across a wide range of fruit and vegetable varieties. - The Programme works for all children aged 4-11yrs old. - The effects generalise across contexts, ie. School to home. - The Programme is equally effective for boy and girls. - Effects are highly reliable, regardless of school location and social deprivation.
% consumed London Schools Poorest Eaters Food Dudes School Control School 70 68 Fruit 60 50 48 48 43 Vegetables 40 30 20 10 4 11 2 7 5 7 4 7 0 Before After 16 Days After 4 Months Before After 16 Days After 4 Months Before After 16 Days After 4 Months Before After 16 Days After 4 Months NB. Average daily portion weight presented = 83g of fruit or 60g of vegetables Horne et al. (2004) Increasing children's fruit and vegetable consumption: a peer-modelling and rewards-based intervention. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 58, p1649-1660.
Food Dudes in Ireland 2004 After seeing the overwhelmingly positive results of experimental evaluations of the Food Dudes programme in England and Wales, the Irish Government decided to run an experimental evaluation of the programme in schools in Ireland. The results of the evaluation were as strong as those of previous studies, with the programme resulting not only in large increases in children s consumption of F&V but also in parental provision of F&V in children s lunchboxes.
grammes provided grammes consumed Ireland Experimental Evaluation Fruit and Vegetable PROVISION (in packed lunches) Fruit and Vegetable CONSUMPTION (from packed lunches) 140 120 131 100 90 93 Before After 12 months 100 80 70 80 60 68 63 63 60 50 40 49 34 42 40 30 20 20 10 0 Food Dudes School Control School 0 Food Dudes School Control School Horne et al. (2009) Increasing parental provision and children's consumption of lunchbox fruit and vegetables in Ireland: The Food Dudes intervention. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 63, p613-618.
Food Dudes in Ireland continued 2005 The Irish Government, with support from the European Union and Industry, launched a pilot roll-out of the programme in 150 primary schools in Ireland. 2006 In recognition of its success after one year, the programme was awarded a World Health Organization Best Practice Award. 2007 Based on the pilot roll-out s success, the Irish Government made the Food Dudes programme available to every primary school in Ireland (3,300 schools over 7 years) on a budget of 28 million euro. To date 1,700 schools and 250,000 children have now participated in the programme.
Food Dudes in Wolverhampton In 2009 a 3 year roll-out of the programme began in Wolverhampton, funded by Wolverhampton City PCT. 6 of the 10 schools that received the programme in 2009 were chosen as Experimental Schools to evaluate the impact of the Programme. A 24-hour food diary (DIET24) recorded fruit, vegetable and snack consumption at different eating occasions throughout the day, both at home and at school.
Portions Consumed Wolverhampton Evaluation: Results 1 Daily Fruit & Veg Consumption (at Home and School) 2.0 Whole School * 1.92 Poorest Eaters (<2portions per day) Fruit Vegetables 1.6 * 1.37 * 1.61 1.2 1.30 * 1.10 0.87 0.8 0.4 0.24 0.41 0.0 PRE POST PRE POST PRE POST PRE POST
Portions Consumed Wolverhampton Evaluation: Results 2 Unhealthy Snack Consumption (in School) 0.9 0.8 0.79 * 20% reduction 0.7 0.63 As F&V consumption increased, unhealthy snack food consumption decreased. 0.6 0.5 Suggests that F&V displaced other snack food in children s diets. 0.4 0.3 PRE POST
Award Winning Programme 1998: Caroline Walker Trust - changing children s diets 2006: World Health Organisation - combating obesity 2009: Social Marketing Centre - Showcase Award 2010: Chief Medical Officer s Public Health Awards Gold Medal
Ireland Take Up 2007-2012: National Roll-out to all primary schools (3,300 schools; 450,000 children). England- (SFT; DoH; HDC; Worshipful Company of Fruiterers) 2009-2011: Wolverhampton regional roll-out to 84 schools, 20,000 children. 2009-2010: Bedfordshire pilot roll-outs to 14 schools. 2010-2012: Coventry: roll-out to 30 schools, 9,000 children. Other regions are also interested in piloting the scheme. Worldwide Pilot projects in Sicily and California. Interest expressed from Australia, Mauritius, France, Greece, Brazil..
Some testimonials from parents I think that the Food Dudes Programme is an excellent initiative. It appears to stop children saying, "I don't like" various fruit/veg when they haven't even tried it. Food Dudes should be introduced into every Primary School. The children ate more fruit and veg and asked for less chocolate and crisps! I found I was buying more fruit than usual. I think it was beneficial, it has helped and encouraged all the family to eat healthy. My son is trying to encourage other family members to eat healthy.
Contact: Pauline Kelly BSc School of Psychology, Bangor University, North Wales, UK Tel: 01248 388534 Email: fooddudes@bangor.ac.uk Website: www.fooddudes.co.uk