“Gimme 5” is a nutrition education program aimed at improving the eating behaviors of high school students. Specifically, “Gimme 5” encourages students to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. A team of researchers, nutritionists, and educators at Tulane University Medical Center’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine developed the program with a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). “Gimme 5” is being implemented in the high schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

“Gimme 5” consists of four components: 1) interactive workshops and curriculum-specific activities which are integrated into subject matter areas in existing curricula, 2) an intensive media and marketing campaign that will permeate the school with “GIMME 5” messages, 3) modification of specific components of the school environment such as vending machines, snack outlets, and school meals, to increase fruit and vegetable availability in the school, 4) parent and family involvement to promote increased availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables at home.