Abstract
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused increasing concern over health care, part of which involves the role of nutrition. In this study, a nutrition educational board game, featuring quantitative computation, was designed to help students acquire nutrition knowledge and improve dietary behaviors. A group of 22 students in grade 7 of a middle school in Beijing were selected as the participants. A single-group pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design was adopted. Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) questionnaires and interviews were used to investigate students’ changes in dietary knowledge, attitude, and behavior. The influence of gender and body mass index (BMI) on the teaching effectiveness was also explored. The results showed that some dimensions of knowledge, attitude, and behavior significantly increased in the students. Their changes in behavior were mainly related to some aspects that were easier to adjust. In addition, the study also found that females and students with abnormal BMI were more likely to be influenced by the educational game to make positive changes in attitude and behavior.
Highlights
Adolescence is a critical period of growth and mental development
Secondary chemistry curriculum standards specify that students learn the function of some nutrition organic compounds, mineral elements, and poisonous compounds in their third year in middle school
Secondary biology curriculum standards specify that students learn how nutrients are digested and absorbed in the body
Summary
Adolescence is a critical period of growth and mental development. Balanced nutrition intake and dietary behaviors play an important role in healthy growth and prevention of various chronic diseases. Secondary chemistry curriculum standards specify that students learn the function of some nutrition organic compounds (carbohydrates, starch, protein, vitamins, and so on), mineral elements (calcium, iron, zinc, and so on), and poisonous compounds in their third year in middle school. The government has provided some documents such as “guidance outline of health education in primary and secondary schools”, the items are not quite explicit and a number of schools do not take them as key content in normal classes. Some schools, especially those in remote areas, suffer from desperate shortages of professional teachers; instead, nutrition knowledge is taught by teachers of other disciplines [5]. The above points are all reasons why schools did not provide favorable conditions for students to master good nutrition knowledge
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