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. 2012 Dec 21;12:1099. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-1099

Table 5.

Nutritional and health outcomes associated with fruit and vegetable subsidy programs

First Author, Year Intervention, Participants Nutritional outcomes Health outcomes
Burr 2007[37]
Dietary intake
 
 
Net % consuming more fruit
 
Free home-delivered orange juice using vouchers(V) nutritional advice promoting fruit and fruit juice (A) or standard care during prenatal care period (C)
Mean
V
A
C
 
 
 
Apples
2.2
−13.2
−2.7
 
 
 
Oranges
−2.2
−21.1
−11.8
 
 
 
Bananas
−17.4
−7.9
−29.7
 
 
 
Fruit juice
34.8*
−7.9
−24.3
 
 
 
*Voucher group net % significantly greater than advice or control (p<0.05)
 
Pregnant women
Biomarkers
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mean (SD)
 
 
 
 
 
 
β-carotene change, ng/ml
 
V
A
C
p
 
 
 
n=39
n=37
n=42
 
 
 
 
35.6(77.2)
 
−20.2(43.3)
<0.0001
 
 
 
 
2.7(65.5)
−20.2(43.3)
0.435
 
 
Herman 2006 & 2008[32,40]
Dietary intake
 
 
 
 
 
Standard WIC program plus $10 voucher weekly for F&V from local supermarket (SM) or farmer′s market (FM)
Mean
SM
FM
C
p
 
 
F&V intake,
 
 
 
 
 
 
serves/4186kJ/day
 
 
 
 
 
 
End of intervention
4.1
3.9
3.0
F=9.75, p<0.001
 
Post-partum women >18yo- all WIC participants
6 mths post-intervention
4.0
4.0
3.1
F=6.66, p=0.001
 
 
Vegetable intake, serves/4186kJ/day
 
 
End of intervention
2.3
2.1
1.5
F=11.0, p<0.001
 
 
6 mths post-intervention Data not shown F=−0.59, p=0.02
 
 
Fruit intake
 
 
Data not shown, no significant differences between SM, FM and control
 
Kennedy 2009[41]
Dietary intake
 
 
 
 
Anthropometric and cardiovascular outcomes
 
Change in intake at six months
 
 
 
 
Change at six months
Free fruit and vegetables $10/week with recipes from mobile store at community centre with monthly nutrition/cooking sessions and anthropometric assessment
Mean (SD)
I
C
p
 
Mean (SD)
I
C
p
 
Energy, kcal/day
−456 (1032)
−636 (1326)
0.48
 
Weight, kg
−2.0 (3.2)
1.1 (2.0)
<0.001
 
Fiber, g/day
1.7 (5.7)
−4.3 (19.7)
0.03
 
 
 
 
 
African-American women
Fruit, serves/day
1.0 (1.7)
0 (1.2)
0.02
 
 
 
 
 
 
Veg, serves/day
0.9 (1.2)
−0.2 (1.8)
0.002
 
BMI, kg/m [2]
−0.7 (1.2)
0.4 (0.8)
0.001
 
 
 
 
 
 
Waist size, cm
−0.5 (5.3)
1.9 (3.7)
0.12
 
 
 
 
 
 
Syst BP, mmHg
−2.3 (13.0)
−1.4 (12.3)
0.14
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dias BP, mmHg
0.8 (8.1)
0.1 (9.3)
0.68
 
 
 
 
 
 
Self-rated health
            General health and quality of life were rated across multiple domains. Trends generally favoured intervention group, but only self-esteem (p=0.03) and emotional role (p=0.04) improved significantly