Super Tasters and Mighty Movers: Connecting Nutrition and Activity Messages From the School to the Home

Abstract

To extend and reinforce messages from The Food Friends program with elementary-aged children in the classroom, cafeteria/gym, and home to sustain behavior changes made in preschool. Students attending 2 elementary schools in rural Colorado participated in the 5 month program in both kindergarten and 1st grade. A 5-unit ‘‘booster’’ program, based on Social Cognitive Theory and Social Marketing principles, was developed with The Food Friends' characters and themes of ‘‘Super Tasters’’ and ‘‘Mighty Movers”. Classroom-based lessons, and signage for the cafeteria and gym, were implemented in 34 classrooms (∼800 students). A home-based component, The Super Taster and Mighty Mover Club, was developed and 5 monthly packages were mailed to 1st grade study participants (n=98) to promote school-based messages in the home environment. Mailings consisted of a child newsletter, a bilingual parent newsletter, and educational enhancer (e.g. spatula, jump rope, cookbook). Child intercept interviews were conducted to determine if children could recall key program messages. A parent survey was sent home to gauge impressions of materials and understanding and incorporation of messages/materials in the home. Overall, the program was very well received by both children and parents. The majority (80%) of children could articulate program messages without prompting (100% with prompting). Parents (93%) reported that materials encouraged their children to partake in targeted behaviors; ∼50% of families did the suggested activities/recipes and 20% planned to in the future. The efficacy of The Food Friends elementary component on behaviors will be evaluated as part of a larger longitudinal study.