Examining the Influence of Cultural Immersion on Willingness to Try Fruits and Vegetables among Children in Guam: The Traditions Pilot Study

This pilot study examined the influence of cultural immersion on willingness to try fruits and vegetables (FV) among children 3–12 years old in three summer camps in Guam with different cultural exposure levels: cultural immersion camp (CIC), high exposure; university day camp (UDC), moderate exposure; and recreational sports camp (RSC), zero exposure. Children, ages 3–12 years old for CIC and UDC and 5–12 years old for RSC, participated: CIC (n = 47), UDC (n = 23), and RSC (n = 33). Children’s willingness to try FV was assessed with the Adapted WillTry tool before and after each program. Whole FV intakes were assessed concurrently using the mobile food record in CIC and UDC. Using multivariate regression, WillTry post-assessment outcomes were modeled adjusting for pre-assessment, child characteristics, exposure, and parent cultural affiliation. Unique to the Adapted WillTry tool are three FV scales, local novel, local common, and imported, which are classified by source (local or imported) and/or familiarity (novel or common). WillTry adjusted mean FV post-scores by highest exposure camp to lowest were 2.2, 2.3, and 2.2 for local novel and 2.6, 2.6, and 2.6 for local common. No differences among camps were significant; however, there was an increase in the willingness to try scores for all FV score types and camps. The Traditions pilot study demonstrated: (1) feasibility of a multi-arm parallel design using existing community programs in limited-resource environments and (2) further examination of nutrition education components and contexts are needed to understand diet behaviors of indigenous populations.