Version 1
: Received: 19 July 2023 / Approved: 19 July 2023 / Online: 19 July 2023 (10:38:18 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 20 July 2023 / Approved: 20 July 2023 / Online: 21 July 2023 (03:16:14 CEST)
Berlic, M.; Battelino, T.; Korošec, M. Can Kindergarten Meals Improve the Daily Intake of Vegetables, Whole Grains, and Nuts among Preschool Children? A Randomized Controlled Evaluation. Nutrients2023, 15, 4088.
Berlic, M.; Battelino, T.; Korošec, M. Can Kindergarten Meals Improve the Daily Intake of Vegetables, Whole Grains, and Nuts among Preschool Children? A Randomized Controlled Evaluation. Nutrients 2023, 15, 4088.
Berlic, M.; Battelino, T.; Korošec, M. Can Kindergarten Meals Improve the Daily Intake of Vegetables, Whole Grains, and Nuts among Preschool Children? A Randomized Controlled Evaluation. Nutrients2023, 15, 4088.
Berlic, M.; Battelino, T.; Korošec, M. Can Kindergarten Meals Improve the Daily Intake of Vegetables, Whole Grains, and Nuts among Preschool Children? A Randomized Controlled Evaluation. Nutrients 2023, 15, 4088.
Abstract
Data show that preschoolers consume few vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts. We investigated whether a properly planned kindergarten menu can contribute to optimized daily intake of healthy foods. In this cross-sectional experimental study, we designed a 5-day prototype kindergarten menu with consistently followed dietary guidelines and randomly divided six invited kindergartens into a prototype group that received the prototype menu (PG, n=4) and a control group that used their regular menu (CG, n=2). From the participating kindergartens, we invited healthy 5-6-year-old children to participate. Outside of kindergarten, participants ate as usual. All completed a 7-day dietary record of foods consumed inside and outside of kindergarten. We used the Dietary Assessment Tool OPEN to analyze the average daily intake of seven food groups and compare it to the dietary guidelines. Fifty-seven participants completed the study, 40 from PG and 17 from CG. The average daily intake of vegetables (54% vs. 28%), whole grains (100% vs. 47%), and nuts (104% vs. 4%) was significantly higher (p<0.05) in participants from PG compared with guideline recommendations than in participants from CG. Average daily intake of fruits, meats, dairy products, and refined grains did not differ significantly between study groups. Only kindergarten diet made a significant contribution, as intake outside of kindergarten did not show significant differences. The study demonstrates the importance of a well-planned menu in kindergartens and can serve as a basis for future interventions aimed at improving the nutritional environment in childcare facilities.
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received:
21 July 2023
Commenter:
Mojca Korošec
Commenter's Conflict of Interests:
Author
Comment:
Dear Editors,
Thank you for a review of our manuscript and providing the layout-edited word file. We have revised the layout-edited word file with our manuscript and resolved open issues (table citation and a missing reference). Please find the resubmitted docx file with the track of changes done and replies in Comments, and pdf file of the manuscript with accepted changes.
Thank you for your time. Kind regards, Mojca Korošec
Commenter: Mojca Korošec
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
Thank you for a review of our manuscript and providing the layout-edited word file. We have revised the layout-edited word file with our manuscript and resolved open issues (table citation and a missing reference).
Please find the resubmitted docx file with the track of changes done and replies in Comments, and pdf file of the manuscript with accepted changes.
Thank you for your time.
Kind regards, Mojca Korošec