Implementation of four strategies in Dutch day-care centres to stimulate young children's fruit and vegetable consumption

The day-care setting is an ideal place to encourage children's fruit and vegetable (=F&V) eating. Whereas many studies have focused on the effectiveness to increase F&V consumption, little is known about how to successfully implement effective strategies in daily practice. This study aimed to investigate how day-care professionals evaluated the implementation of a self-chosen strategy to support children's F&V eating. Thirteen day-care locations chose one out of five promising strategies and implemented this strategy for 10–12 weeks. Before (N = 98) and after the study (N = 49), day-care professionals completed a questionnaire to assess their implementation experiences, the impact on children's F&V eating as well as their future intention to use the strategy (on a 5-point scale). Parents (N = 152) completed a short questionnaire at the end of the study to capture their experiences and potential transfer effects to the home situation. Results showed that acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility and sustainability of the strategies were generally satisfactory (scores ≥3.5 on a 5-point scale), but the strategy of cooking scored less favourable on appropriateness and sustained implementation. Children's willingness to taste F&V varieties (3.4 ± 0.7 vs. 2.8 ± 0.8; p