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Middle School‐Aged Child Enjoyment of Food Tastings Predicted Interest in Nutrition Education on Osteoporosis Prevention
Author(s) -
Cheng Feon W.,
Monnat Shan M.,
Lohse Barbara
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12268
Subject(s) - wine tasting , medicine , nutrition education , curriculum , psychology , cohort , gerontology , food science , pedagogy , chemistry , wine
BACKGROUND NEEDs for Bones ( NFB ), based on the Health Belief Model, is a 4‐lesson osteoporosis‐prevention curriculum for 11‐ to 14‐year‐olds. This study examined the relationship between enjoyment of food tastings and interest in NFB . METHODS NFB was administered by teachers as part of standard practice and evaluated after the fourth lesson using a 21‐item survey. Significant clustering of students within classrooms required use of random‐intercept multilevel ordinal regression models in SAS proc GLIMMIX , with students nested within classrooms. Analyses considered tasting experience, eating attitudes, sex, grade, and cohort. RESULTS Students (N = 1619; 50% girls) participated from 85 fourth to eighth grade classrooms (47% sixth grade and 31% seventh grade) in 16 Pennsylvania SNAP ‐Ed eligible schools over 2 academic years. For all foods tasted, students who did not enjoy the food tasting were less interested in the lesson than students who did enjoy the food tasting (all p < .001); refried beans (odds ratio [ OR ] = 0.30), soy milk ( OR = 0.55), cranapple juice ( OR = 0.51), sunflower kernels ( OR = 0.48), and Swiss cheese ( OR = 0.49). The relationship persisted net of covariates. CONCLUSIONS Enjoyment of food tasting activities can predict interest in nutrition education on osteoporosis prevention, supporting resource allocation and inclusion of food tasting activities in school‐age nutrition education.