The California Children's 5 a Day-Power Play! Campaign: Evaluation of a large-scale social marketing initiative

ruit and vegetable consumption among California's fourth and fifth graders appears to be lower than in adults, and there is little literature reporting large-scale interventions that increase consumption. A oneyear evaluation funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was conducted with 3,966 students in 49 schools located in three geographically distant school communities. One community conducted intervention activities in the schools (T1), one conducted activities in school and community channels (T2), and the third served as a control. Behavioral and attitudinal changes were based on one-day food diaries administered preintervention and postintervention. Consumption rose in T1 and T2% and 14%, respectively, while dropping 12% in the control group (p<.05, control different from T1 and T2. While behavioral changes can occur in the school environment, even larger changes can be made when the school interventions are accompanied by community-wide involvement.