Table 2.
Studies reporting changes in nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviours in children and adolescents.
| First Author, Year, Country | Target Population | Study Design, Risk of Bias | Description of Portion Control Plate | Key Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shukaitis 2021 [51] USA |
Preschool children | Quasi- experimental, Low |
3D Yumbox: bento-style box with labelled compartments (vegetable, fruit, dairy, grain, protein). | Yumbox had a positive influence on the types of foods caretakers pack for their children’s lunches (↑ variety of components, ↑ fruit, ↑ protein, and ↑ dairy across all 3 days, and ↑ vegetables for the first 2 days). |
| Arcan 2019 [57] USA |
Children 8–12 y and caregivers | Cross-sectional, High |
2D MyPlate diagram: 1/2 plate of FV, 1/4 plate of grains, 1/4 plate of protein, and 1 serve of dairy. | The ’half plate FV’ message was positively associated with daily FV intake, diet quality, and home food environment (additional weekly family meal, higher parent and child cooking skills, higher home availability of FV). |
| Melnick 2018 [54] USA |
Preschool children 3–5 y | Quasi-experimental, High |
3D Segmented plate: plates with segments of FV sections, FV pictures in designated sections. | Segmented plates with FV pictures resulted in a significant ↑ vegetables taken and vegetables consumed, no significant changes to fruit taken or consumed) over 3 days. |
| Ho 2016 [47] Canada |
Children 8–16 y, BMI > 85 percentile | RCT, High |
3D Diet plate: commercially available dinner plate with tape-partitioned sections for carbohydrates, proteins, sauces; remainder of plate for vegetables. | Addition of a portion control tool to standard nutritional counselling did not result in a significant change in BMI z score, anthropometric measures, or laboratory markers after 6 months compared to standard nutrition counselling. |
| Shilts 2015 [62] USA |
Low literate, low-income families |
Qualitative, High |
2D MyPlate diagram: 1/2 FV, 1/4 grains, 1/4 protein, and 1 serve of dairy. | The My Healthy Plate lessons improved parents’ child feeding-related behaviours. My Healthy Plate was perceived as useful and frequently used by parents. A fast-food poster showing common fast-food options (pizza, hamburger, and taco) in MyPlate proportions was developed based on parents’ feedback. |
| Ellsworth 2014 [55] USA |
Low-income middle-school students | Quasi-experimental, High |
2D MyPlate diagram: 1/2 plate of FV, 1/4 plate of grains, 1/4 plate of protein, and 1 serve of dairy. | ↑ Nutrition knowledge in middle school students who used a mobile farmers’ market and received nutrition education that involved MyPlate guidelines. |
| Bohnert 2011 [45] USA |
African American adolescents | RCT, High |
3D Nutri-plate: brighter colour balanced with more neutral ones; text that was easy to read; designated sections for vegetables, protein, wholegrains, oils; designated visual representations in sections for vegetables, protein, wholegrains, oils. | Quantitative findings: Dining with the Nutri-plate did not appear to influence healthy food selected by participants overall. The Nutri-plate appeared to facilitate ↑ fruit, ↑ unhealthy broccoli, ↓ steamed broccoli, ↓ overall food. Qualitative findings: Participants’ preferences for plate characteristics including: (i) space to put food shown; (ii) recommended portion size shown; (iii) proportion of food groups shown; (iv) brighter colours, food icons, text that was easy to read, and written messages about healthy eating. |
FV = fruits and vegetables.