Evaluation on an Interdisciplinary Nutrition Curriculum for Students in Grades K-6

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: Participants will identify teaching methods and/or lessons for effectively teaching elementary students the concepts of 5-a-Day and the Food Guide Pyramid. This abstract describes an evaluation of “Every Day, Lots of Ways,” an interdisciplinary nutrition curriculum for students in grades K-6 focusing on the topics of 5-a-Day for the K-1 group and the Food Guide Pyramid for 2nd – 6th grades. The experimental research design included administration of a pre- and post-test to treatment groups in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades with comparison to control groups at the same grade levels which had received no nutrition instruction during the test period. Evaluation instruments for the 1st grade students were designed to assess knowledge and attitude toward fruit and vegetable consumption. Written knowledge tests were administered to the 3rd and 5th grade students. A hands-on skills test involving selecting food items and placing them in Food Guide Pyramid food groups was administered by the research team. Teachers' knowledge and attitude toward nutrition were assessed via a survey completed prior to and after teaching the curriculum. For the 1st grade students, no difference was found between experimental and control groups in the mean of the post-test assessing knowledge using the pre-test as a covariate. However, a significant difference was found in the post-test attitude score (F 1,37 = 7.835, p = 0.008) using the pre-test attitude score as a covariate. At the 3rd and 5th grade levels, there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the mean of the post-test scores (F 1,43 = 24.24, p = 0.00, for 3rd grade; F 1,42 = 23.7, p = 0.00, for the 5th grade) using the pre-test scores as covariates. The skills test revealed that students had difficulty selecting foods to be consumed over a one-day period that meet the Food Guide Pyramid's recommendations for numbers of servings of breads and vegetables. Students also placed certain foods in incorrect food groups, and selected meals consisting of foods that would not realistically be consumed together. These results as well as results of the teachers' knowledge and attitude test will be discussed, along with a description of the curriculum and recommendations for revision to increase effectiveness of nutrition lessons for grades K-6.