Effects of SuperFIT, an overweight-prevention intervention approach, on pre-schoolers’ dietary intake: a pilot study

ABSTRACT
SuperFIT aims to improve the dietary and physical activity behaviour of children (2–4 years) in the Dutch childcare and home setting. Healthy parenting practices, policies, and availability of materials, fruits, and vegetables were promoted over the course of a year. This pilot study, with a quasi-experimental design, examined the effectiveness of children’s intake of fruits, vegetables, water, and sweet beverages. Families attending intervention preschools could participate in the partial (preschool) or full (preschool + home) intervention. Parental 24-hour recalls assessed the child’s diet at baseline and two follow-ups. Data from 81 control and 88 intervention children was included in a three-level hierarchical logistic regression. The full intervention showed significantly favourable effects for sweet beverages (B = −1.85, P < 0.05) and unfavourable effects for vegetables (B = −1.94, P < 0.05), compared to the control between the second follow-up and baseline. No significant effects were found for fruit or water, nor for the partial intervention. More research in a larger sample is needed to confirm current findings.