Effects of the child and adolescent trial for cardiovascular health (CATCH) on fruit and vegetable intake

The purpose of this article is to report the impact of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) on fruit and vegetable consumption of third-through fifth-grade children. The primary messages delivered in the CATCH interventions concerned dietary fat, dietary sodium, physical activity, and smoking. However, a significant portion of the: classroom curricula, parental involvement programs, and food service changes were directed at promoting a generally healthful diet, including increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Therefore, it is of interest whether the general nutrition intervention was sufficient to effect an increase in intake of fruits and vegetables. Intakes were assessed using single, food-record-assisted 24-hour recalls at baseline and follow-up. The final sample size for paired baseline and follow-up recalls was 1186. The mean unadjusted daily intake of fruits and vegetables for the entire cohort at follow-up was 4.04 servings; for fruit it was 2.13 servings, and for vegetables it was 1.91 servings. The analyses of variance revealed no differences in fruit and vegetable consumption at follow-up due to site, sex, race, sex by race, condition by sex, condition by race, or condition by race by sex. Only the baseline servings of fruits and vegetables (F = 14.89; p <.001) and site by condition (F = 3.61; p <.02) terms were significant. There were significant differences between intervention and reference conditions only at the Texas site. These findings from CATCH differ considerably from those from the 5-a-Day Power Plus study and suggest that food-based, targeted messages may be needed for changes in eating patterns.