An Approach to Improving Science Knowledge About Energy Balance and Nutrition Among Elementary- and Middle-School Students

Abstract

"Food and Fitness," and evaluated it with students in grades 3-7 in Houston, Texas. A fieldtest group (447 students) completed all unit activities under the guidance of their teachers. This group and a comparison group (343 students) completed pre-and postassessments measuring knowledge of concepts covered in the unit. Outcomes indicate that the unit significantly increased students' knowledge and awareness of science concepts related to energy in living systems, metabolism, nutrients, and diet. Pre-assessment results suggest that most students understand concepts related to calories in food, exercise and energy use, and matching food intake to energy use. Students' prior knowledge was found to be much lower on topics related to healthy portion sizes, foods that supply the most energy, essential nutrients, what "diet" actually means, and the relationship between body size and basal metabolic rate.

Effectiveness of a school-based nutrition and food safety education program among primary and junior high school students in Chongqing, China

“…At present, nutrition education in primary and secondary schools is deficient, which has led to primary and secondary school students' lack of basic understanding of nutrition knowledge in China (9). Therefore, to help students develop lifelong healthy habits, more holistic health and nutrition curricula are needed that not only teach students health knowledge at the cognitive level but also improve the nutritional status of school-age children and adolescents.…”

“…It is generally known that health promotion is a transformation process of knowledge, attitude, and behavior (11)(12)(13)20,27). The awareness of nutrition plays a vital role in shaping healthy eating behavior; meanwhile, the change of attitude is the principal element to lead to changing behavior (9). Thus, besides enhancing the awareness of nutrition and food safety among primary and junior high students, healthy eating behavior is also important.…”

“…Numerous studies have demonstrated that nutrition education is one of the most cost-effective methods to improve the nutritional cognition and status of primary and junior high school students (9)(10)(11)(12). School-based nutrition education is particularly important as children and adolescents frequently decide what to eat with little adult supervision (13).…”

Increasing student learning through space life sciences education

“…In addition, further examination of student pre-tests provided important information about adolescent's misconceptions or lack of knowledge about nutrition, energy and exercise. These results, which are summarized by Moreno et al [17], suggest that middle school students have inadequate understanding of portion sizes recommended by the food pyramid, by-products of cellular respiration, relative amounts of energy provided by foods, basal metabolic rate and the meaning of the phrase, "a person's diet. "…”

Communicating bioastronautics research to students, families and the nation

“…Evaluation of these materials has garnered consistently strong ratings from the teachers who use them [14].…”