Breakfast Behaviors and Cognitions among Parents of Preschoolers

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate change in elementary students’ willingness to try (WTT) fruits and vegetables after participating in the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Children's Nutrition Program on a class field trip. The WillTry survey was administered to 139 kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students before and after participation in the program. Data were also collected in Student Notebooks completed during the program. The change in WTT eight fruits and vegetables between the WillTry preand post-test was evaluated using the Wilcoxan Sign Rank test. Responses regarding WTT these eight foods were also compared between the Student Notebook and the WillTry post-test to evaluate any change between responses recorded immediately upon tasting each food and those recorded two days later. In assessing changes between the WillTry pre-and post-test, we observed an overall decrease in willingness to try the eight foods offered. There was a small but statistically insignificant increase in WTT fruits (with the exception of dried apple, which increased significantly), and a significant decrease in WTT vegetables. In comparing the post-test and notebook data we found that in the two days between the intervention and post-test, many students changed their responses. This indicates flexibility in WTT over time, an encouraging finding that offers promise if a child is unwilling to try a food initially. Findings from this study would benefit by further research investigating the effects of a greater number of exposures to each food and varying presentation of the foods in such an intervention.