To assess the effect of the Dutch school-based education programme ‘Taste Lessons’ on children’s behavioural determinants towards tasting unfamiliar foods and eating healthy and a variety of foods.

In a quasi-experimental study design, data on behavioural determinants were collected at baseline, four weeks and six months after the intervention in both the intervention and control group. Children completed consecutively three questionnaires in which knowledge, awareness, skills, attitude, emotion, subjective norm and intention towards the two target behaviours were assessed. Teachers implemented on average a third of the programme activities. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted to compare individual changes in the determinants in the intervention group with those in the control group, corrected for children’s gender and age. Effect sizes were expressed as Cohen’s d.

Dutch elementary schools.

Forty-nine classes (1183 children, 9–12 years old) in grades 5–8 of twenty-one elementary schools.

The intervention group showed a higher increase in knowledge (d=0·26, P<0·01), which persisted after six months (d=0·23, P<0·05). After four weeks, the intervention group showed a higher increase in number of foods known (d=0·22, P<0·05) and tasted (d=0·21, P<0·05), subjective norm of the teacher (d=0·17, P<0·05) and intention (d=0·16, P<0·05) towards the target behaviours.

Partial implementation of Taste Lessons during one school year showed small short-term effects on increasing behavioural determinants in relation to tasting unfamiliar foods and eating healthy and a variety of foods. Full and repeated implementation of Taste Lessons in subsequent years might result in larger effects.

The aim of this study was to assess the behavioural effects of a school-based healthful diet promotion intervention implemented in lower vocational schools.

A cluster-randomised pre-test–post-test experimental design was used, and data were collected by means of written questionnaires.

Students of 18 Dutch lower vocational schools.

The final sample consisted of 10 experimental schools with 13 teachers, 37 classes and 879 students, and eight control schools with 10 teachers, 31 classes and 734 students (total n = 1613).

Fixed regression analyses revealed beneficial effects on the behavioural measures relating to fruit intake (as assessed by a food frequency measure and fruit consumption during the previous day), and most behavioural measures related to high-fat snack intake (food frequency measure, and number of snacks and total fat intake from snacks during the previous day). The behavioural effects relating to breakfast habits were limited. Some positive behavioural effects occurred in the total target population, others mainly or only among students with more unfavourable intakes at baseline. Mixed regression analysis found comparable regression coefficients for the behavioural outcomes, but the effects related to fruit intake were no longer statistically significant.

Although we did not find the expected effects on all outcome indicators, the total pattern of results suggest that Krachtvoer offered a surplus value over existing curricula. However, some programme elements need to be revised to improve effectiveness and prevent negative effects, and more information is needed about the long-term effects of the programme.