To evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-generated tailored intervention leaflet compared with a generic leaflet aimed at increasing brown bread, wholegrain cereal, fruit and vegetable intakes in adolescent girls.

Clustered randomised controlled trial. Dietary intake was assessed via three 24 h dietary recalls.

Eight secondary schools in areas of low income and/or high ethnic diversity, five in London and three in the West Midlands, UK.

Girls aged 12–16 years participated (n 823) and were randomised by school class to receive either the tailored intervention (n 406) or a generic leaflet (n 417).

At follow-up 637 (77 %) participants completed both baseline and follow-up dietary recalls. The tailored intervention leaflet had a statistically significant effect on brown bread intake (increasing from 0·39 to 0·51 servings/d) with a smaller but significant increase in the control group also (increasing from 0·28 to 0·35 servings/d). The intervention group achieved 0·05 more servings of brown bread daily than the control group (P < 0·05), which is equivalent to 0·35 servings/week. For the other foods there were no significant effects of the tailored intervention.

The intervention group consumed approximately 0·35 more servings of brown bread weekly than the control group from baseline. Although this change between groups was statistically significant the magnitude was small. Evaluation of the intervention was disappointing but the tailored leaflet was received more positively in some respects than the control leaflet. More needs to be done to increase motivation to change dietary intake in adolescent girls.

To evaluate the effects of a middle-school healthy eating promotion intervention combining environmental changes and computer-tailored feedback, with and without an explicit parent involvement component.

Clustered randomised controlled trial.

Fifteen West-Flemish (Belgian) middle schools.

A random sample of 15 schools with 2991 pupils in 7th and 8th grades was randomly assigned to an intervention group with parental support (n = 5), an intervention group without parental support (n = 5) and a control group (n = 5). In these 15 schools an intervention combining environmental changes with computer-tailored feedback was implemented. Fat and fruit intake, water and soft drinks consumption were measured with food-frequency questionnaires in the total sample of children.

In girls, fat intake and percentage of energy from fat decreased significantly more in the intervention group with parental support, compared with the intervention alone group (all F>3.9, P < 0.05) and the control group (all F>16.7, P < 0.001). In boys, there were no significant decreases in fat intake (F = 1.4, not significant (NS)) or percentage of energy from fat (F = 0.7, NS) as a result of the intervention. No intervention effects were found in boys or in girls for fruit (F = 0.5, NS), soft drinks (F = 2.6, NS) and water consumption (F = 0.3, NS).

Combining physical and social environmental changes with computer-tailored feedback in girls and their parents can induce lower fat intake in middle-school girls. However, to have an impact on the consumption of soft drinks and water, governmental laws that restrict the at-school availability of low-nutritive products may be necessary.