Fruit and Vegetable Make the Marks (FVMM) Health, Medicine Essay

Fruit and Vegetable Make the Marks (FVMM)
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Fruit and Vegetable Make the Marks (FVMM)
Most of the children in Norway eat less than the recommended daily portions of fruits and vegetables; set at five portions. A study was conducted in Norwegian schools to investigate the effects of the Fruit and Vegetable Make the Marks (FVMM) intervention (Bere et al., 2005). The study aimed to increase student’s daily intake of fruit and vegetables both at school and at home. The study investigated the possibility of raising children’s fruit and vegetable intake as demonstrated in other similar studies. The social cognitive theory was the framework of the study. It postulates that personal and environmental factors influence behavior change. The focus of the research was personal factors, that is, students’ preferences.
Comprehensive reviews of previous studies on school-based interventions provided insight into the structure of successful research. Following the recommendations, the study consisted of multi-component, was directed at behavioral change; enough time was allocated, included specific messages targeting fruit and vegetable intake and was based on an appropriate theoretical framework (Bere et al., 2005). The study invited 24 schools, and 19 schools agreed to participate. 10 and nine schools were categorized as intervention and control groups respectively. The study invited a total of 538 six graders to participate, but due to various reasons, only 369 (69%) completed all the three surveys. The duration of the study was two years between 2001 and 2003. It consisted of baseline (September 1001), Follow-up 1 (nine months later) and Follow-up 2 (a year after that) surveys. Students completed a questionnaire on the dietary assessment component, while teachers completed two questionnaires assessing curriculum implementation and their evaluation on its effects.
The components of the intervention were: classroom component, parental involvement, and school fruit program (Bere et al., 2005). The classroom component was a curriculum based on previous studies and was consistent with the national curriculum. It was delivered to s...