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Evaluation of a Nutrition Education Program implementation for Portuguese students from 1 st grade to 10 th grade
Author(s) -
Tavares Nelson,
Abreu Ana,
Martins Inês,
Barreira Jessica,
Crespo Marta,
Faria Rita
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.957.16
Subject(s) - snacking , context (archaeology) , intervention (counseling) , nutrition education , affect (linguistics) , psychology , preference , promotion (chess) , portuguese , medicine , gerontology , medical education , obesity , psychiatry , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , microeconomics , communication , politics , political science , law , economics , biology
Nutrition health education has become increasingly prominent in schools' programes worldwide, either as part of dedicated courses such as home economics or wider skills‐based programes. There is evidence that young people develop risk factors and disease evidence for coronary heart disease early and, in Portugal [1] as elsewhere, obesity is becoming a major public health problem for children. Patterns of eating are changing with a strong reliance on frequent snacking and consumption of so‐called junk foods. A variety of programes have improved knowledge and in some cases reported behaviour. Evaluation of effectiveness can be problematic as improved knowledge may not necessarily affect long term behaviour. However, structured programes can contribute to a wider context‐based approach. [2] The aim of this study was the promotion and evaluation of nutrition education programe at the Real Colégio de Portugal, for students from the 1st to 9th year, inducing positive changes in eating habits and increase student's knowledge about healthy eating. Nutritional education program consists of 8 sessions over 12 weeks, and included also the application of a food paired validated questionnaire to measure the preference, behavior and knowledge of students regarding healthy eating. A comparative and quantitative study was developed for 12 weeks since February to June 2015. Data were used from 203 students aged 5 to16 years old. At baseline and after 12 weeks students completed a validated food pairing questionnaire on food preference, behavior and knowledge. Significant differences were found in the intervention student's preference ( p=0.005) and behaviour ( p=0.0002 ) and knowledge (p=0.001) . Following the Nutrition Education Programe was seen an improvement in preferences for healthier food and eating behaviour. Support or Funding Information N/A