UC Berkeley

Purpose

Examine the impact of the Children's Power Play! Campaign on fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and physical activity (PA).

Design

Study design was a cluster randomized, controlled trial.

Setting

Forty-four low-resource public schools in San Diego County, California, were included in the study.

Subjects

Study subjects comprised a total of 3463 fourth/fifth-graders (1571 intervention, 1892 control), with an 86.9% completion rate.

Intervention

Throughout 10 weeks, activities were conducted during/after school, including weekly FV/PA lessons and PA breaks; biweekly classroom promotions/taste tests; posters displayed in/around schools; and weekly nutrition materials for parents.

Measures

Self-reported FV intake (cups/d) and PA (min/d) were collected at baseline and follow-up using a diary-assisted, 24-hour dietary recall and Self-Administered Physical Activity Checklist.

Analysis

Multivariate regression models adjusted for demographics and cluster design effects were used, with change as the dependent variable.

Results

Intervention children, compared with controls, showed gains in daily FV intake (.26 cups, p < .001) and PA time at recess/lunch (5.1 minutes, p = .003), but not total daily PA minutes.

Conclusion

Power Play! can help schools and community organizations improve low-income children's FV intake and PA during recess/lunch.