Impact of a short nutrition education program on food and nutrition knowledge of school-age children graduating from elementary school: a follow-up study 1995-2000, Chillan, Chile

• Published in: Ecology of food and nutrition Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 57 - 79
• Main Authors: Salgado, M.D, Mardones, M.A.H, Ivanovic, D.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2005; Taylor and Francis
• Subjects: attitudes and practices; Biological and medical sciences; education; education programs; health promotion; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; knowledge; learning; Medical sciences; Nutrition; nutrition education; nutrition knowledge; Nutritional survey. Food supply and nutritional requirement; program evaluation; public health; school children; sociodemographic characteristics; students; Chile; South America; America; Human; attitudes and practices; Program; education; Nutrition education; Nutrition; Health promotion; students; learning; Feeding; School age; Follow up study; Child; Public health; Food; knowledge
• ISSN: 0367-0244; 1543-5237
• DOI: 10.1080/03670240590904344

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a nutrition education program (NEP) on food and nutrition knowledge (FNK) of a representative sample of 283 elementary school graduates in Chillan, Chile. A comparative study of two groups was carried out: the Control Group (CG, n = 134) and the Experimental Group (participating in the NEP) (EG, n = 149) paired by sex, age, intellectual ability (IA), and socioeconomic stratum. Results showed that in the EG, the NEP had a positive and significant impact on FNK scores, which significantly increased from the pre-test to the post-test. In retests completed both 3 months and 5 years after the NEP had been completed a slight significant decrease was observed, but FNK scores remained quite high. These findings point out the significant impact of the NEP on FNK and may be useful as a model for nutrition education programs designed to improve the food and nutrition knowledge of the school-age population.