Abstract

The nutrition education and promotion component of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP) included classroom education, garden‐based learning, and cooking demonstrations in fourth‐grade classrooms. Discovering Healthy Choices (DHC), a learner‐centered, garden‐based nutrition curriculum, was developed for SHCP. The objective of DHC is to facilitate understanding of nutrition concepts and development of critical thinking skills so youth can make evidence‐based decisions about the foods they eat. DHC supports Common Core State Standards. Cooking demonstrations were linked to DHC concepts. It was hypothesized that students participating in SHCP would have improved nutrition knowledge and critical thinking skills compared to controls. Schools meeting inclusion criteria in Northern (NC) and Central Valley California (CV) were randomly assigned to control (C) or intervention (I) groups. Pre‐ and post‐assessments included a Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire and the Test of Basic Science Process Skills (BAPS). Districts were analyzed separately. At baseline, a correlation between nutrition knowledge and BAPS was observed (Pearson’s r=0.51, p<0.01). This correlation was maintained at follow‐up. Significant improvements in nutrition knowledge were found between NCI and NCC (P<0.01) and CVI and CVC (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in BAPS between C and I groups in either district.Grant Funding Source: Supported by UCANR #11‐1018 and USDA 2011‐38420‐20082

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call