Child Nutrition, Eating Behaviour, Food Consumption, Nutrition Education
Conditions
Brief summary
This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study evaluated a six-week Piaget-based nutrition education programme for preschool children. Seven public preschools were randomized at the school level to an intervention condition (three preschools) or a usual-curriculum control condition (four preschools). The intervention consisted of six weekly, approximately 30-minute, developmentally tailored sessions delivered to groups of children in their usual classrooms. Mothers completed measures of children's food consumption frequency, nutrition behavior, and eating behavior before and immediately after the programme. Following the quantitative phase, three focus groups with 18 mothers from intervention preschools explored perceived changes and helped interpret the quantitative patterns. Because preschool identifiers were not retained in the final analytical dataset, the reported child-level analyses did not adjust for clustering and are interpreted as exploratory.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPiaget-Based Nutrition Education Program
The researcher delivered six weekly sessions, each lasting approximately 30 minutes, to groups of 8-15 preschool children in their usual classrooms. The programme was tailored to the preoperational stage of cognitive development and used simple language, concrete classification, play, pictures, coloring, cartoons, songs, sensory exploration, and fruit-yogurt preparation. Sessions addressed food groups; fruits; vegetables; energy- and growth-supporting foods; milk and dental health; and foods to be consumed every day or occasionally.
Sponsors
Uşak University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Masking description
Because of the nature of the educational intervention, children, mothers, and the researcher delivering the intervention were aware of group assignment. Blinding of outcome assessors and data analysts was not documented.
Intervention model description
Seven public preschools were randomized at the preschool (cluster) level to either the intervention condition (three preschools) or the control condition (four preschools) using a random-number table. All participating children within each preschool received the condition assigned to that preschool. Preschools were the units of randomization, and children were the units of observation.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
The sample of the study consists of preschool children and their mothers. Inclusion criteria for the sample: * Mothers of children aged 3-6 attending kindergartens affiliated with the Provincial Directorate of National Education * Mothers whose children do not have any health problems affecting their nutritional status * Mothers aged 18 and above * Mothers who are at least literate. The
Exclusion criteria
for the study are as follows: * Children with hearing and speech problems, * Children who do not understand or speak Turkish, * Children with any illness or learning difficulties, * Those who participate for a maximum of 2 weeks during the six-week nutrition training.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline in food consumption frequency | Baseline and immediately after completion of the six-week intervention | In the Food Consumption Frequency Questionnaire, there are foods that include 7 food groups (dairy group, meat group, vegetable group, fruit group, grain group, oil/margarine group, and sweet group) aimed at determining the child's food consumption status (Güneş et al., 2016). Food consumption frequency is recorded in nine different categories (\>6/day, 4-5/day, 2-3/day, 1/day, 5-6/week, 2-4/week, 1/week, 1-3/month, 1-none/month). The Food Consumption Frequency Questionnaire specific to Turkish children was developed by Güneş and colleagues in 2016. The form includes not only food items but also commonly used ingredients in Turkish cuisine. During the development phase of the form, a food atlas containing the most frequently consumed foods, beverages, and some Turkish dishes was used. Results are reported by food item or food group; the questionnaire does not yield a single total score. |
| Change in Nutrition Behavior Scale (NBS) Score | Baseline and immediately after completion of the six-week intervention | In determining eating behaviors, the Nutrition Behavior Scale developed by Edmundson et al. (1996) and adapted for Turkish children by Öztürk (2010) was used. The scale consists of fourteen different items, each containing two different food items-low-fat, high-fat, salty, and unsalted-depicted in pictures and presented as choices, to determine children's food consumption. Students are asked to indicate which of the two comparable food items in each question item they eat more. The scale items receive a value of -1 for unhealthy food and +1 for healthy food. The total score ranges from -14 to +14. A high total score on the scale indicates a healthy eating habit. The reliability of the scale has been reported as r=0.76 (Öztürk, 2010). |
| Change in Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) Subscale Scores | Baseline and immediately after completion of the six-week intervention | Developed by Wardle et al. (2001), the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) is a 35-item parent-reported instrument that assesses children's eating behaviours on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). It comprises eight subscales: Food Responsiveness, Emotional Overeating, Enjoyment of Food, Desire to Drink, Satiety Responsiveness, Slowness in Eating, Emotional Undereating, and Food Fussiness. Each subscale is scored separately, with higher scores indicating a greater level of the behaviour represented by that subscale. The original instrument demonstrated an eight-factor structure, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.91. The Turkish validity and reliability study was conducted by Yılmaz et al. (2011). |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed