Testing Methods to Increase Consumption of Healthy Foods: Evidence From a School-Based Field Experiment in Viet Nam

IFPRI Discussion Paper 1939

55 Pages Posted: 27 Jul 2020

See all articles by Trang Nguyen

Trang Nguyen

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Alan de Brauw

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Marrit Van den Berg

Wageningen University - Development Economics

Ha Thi Phuong Do

National Institute of Nutrition

Date Written: June 24, 2020

Abstract

Schools are an attractive entry point to improve children’s diets, as their eating habits can be shaped during childhood and the information disseminated from school can reach adults through children. We implemented a cluster-randomized trial in 12 schools in peri-urban Viet Nam to assess if two school-based interventions increased knowledge of healthy diets among children and their parents, as well as children’s consumption of healthy foods. First, children were given lessons about food before school lunch and encouraged to share the lessons with their parents. Second, children were provided with healthy snacks for five weeks to reinforce messages about healthy eating. We found that in the short term, the nutrition lessons raised the knowledge index score of the children by 0.35 standard deviation. After six months, this intervention retained its effectiveness only for the children who also received free access to fruit, emphasizing the linkage between knowledge and practice. By itself, free access to fruit at school increased the children’s daily fruit consumption by half a portion, but not at the expense of home fruit consumption. Access to healthy foods at school can therefore be an effective measure to raise children’s healthy consumption. Child-parent communication was not a reliable channel for knowledge dissemination in our setting.

Keywords: VIET NAM, VIETNAM, SOUTH EAST ASIA, ASIA, health, food consumption, nutrition, health foods, school feeding, school children, diet, child nutrition, consumption of healthy foods, consumption of healthy foods, healthy diets; child nutrition and health, school-based nutrition education

Suggested Citation

Nguyen, Trang and de Brauw, Alan and Van den Berg, Marrit and Phuong Do, Ha Thi, Testing Methods to Increase Consumption of Healthy Foods: Evidence From a School-Based Field Experiment in Viet Nam (June 24, 2020). IFPRI Discussion Paper 1939, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3640685

Trang Nguyen (Contact Author)

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) ( email )

KM. 17 Recta Cali - Palmira
Cali, Valle del Cauca
Colombia

Alan De Brauw

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
United States

Marrit Van den Berg

Wageningen University - Development Economics

Hollandseweg 1
6706KN
Netherlands

Ha Thi Phuong Do

National Institute of Nutrition ( email )

India

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