This cluster-randomized controlled feasibility study tested the “Feel Good” multi-component fruit and vegetable (FV) intervention in New Zealand primary schools, aiming to assess feasibility, acceptability, and implementation fidelity while exploring potential impacts on children’s mental health and cognition. Seventy children (aged 7–11) from four schools participated, with equal allocation to a 10-week intervention or a 5-week wait-list control.
The intervention combined school-based components (weekly FV deliveries, sensory experiential learning lessons, gardening activities) and home-based components (vegetable boxes with recipes, newsletters, and engagement via a private Facebook group). Process evaluation showed high delivery fidelity (82–100%), strong participant retention (89%), and high acceptability from children, parents, and teachers. Children reported greater willingness to try FV, parents valued fresh produce access, and teachers noted improved food acceptance.
Lessons learned include the need to better integrate home and school activities, simplify consent procedures, increase parental engagement, and expand recipe and healthy eating resources. The study concludes that the intervention is feasible, acceptable, and ready for refinement and scale-up to a definitive trial to examine efficacy for improving diet, cognition, and mental well-being in children.