Author Identifier
Ros Sambell: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8799-3441
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics
Volume
38
Issue
1
PubMed ID
39587758
Publisher
Wiley
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
76497
Funders
Hort Innovation / Australian Government
Abstract
Background: Effective interventions to increase vegetable intake are urgently needed. This systematic rapid review aimed to summarise the effectiveness of interventions targeting increased vegetable intakes across diverse settings. Methodology: The review was guided by the conduct of rapid reviews from the Cochrane Handbook. The literature was searched in February 2024 across PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Central for systematic review articles published since 2014. The Risk of Bias In Systematic Reviews tool was used and characteristics of reviews synthesised narratively with intervention effectiveness results were summarised. Results: A total of 20 systematic reviews met the eligibility criteria. Most targeted school-based settings (n = 7) or community/home-based settings (n = 4). Early childhood education and workplaces had one review each, with none in retail, secondary or tertiary education, food service, food relief or aged care. The mean change in vegetable consumption was +0.12 serves per day, with increases of up to +0.42 serves reported (range −0.09 to +0.42). By setting, the largest increases were reported for interventions in school settings (+0.42 serves/day), followed by home (+0.38 serves/day). Almost half the studies reporting effect sizes suggested no effect on intake (46%), 41% suggested a small effect and 13% suggested a medium effect. Greater effect sizes were achieved in interventions implemented across multiple settings. Conclusions: Review findings indicate that the average increase in vegetable intake following interventions is about one-eighth of a serve but up to almost half a serve in some settings. An increase of this magnitude could have a substantial population impact, particularly in population groups with persistently low intakes.
DOI
10.1111/jhn.13398
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Brooker, P. G., Poelman, A. A., Livingstone, K. M., Collins, C. E., Mihrshahi, S., Sambell, R., ... & Hendrie, G. A. (2025). Consolidating the evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to promote vegetable intake in priority settings: An overview of systematic reviews. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.13398