An investigation into school children's knowledge and awareness of food and nutrition

Abstract

With the diet and exercise behaviours of UK school children showing little improvement over recent years, the need for dietary change is clearly indicated. This study aimed to assess the nutritional knowledge and understanding of primary school children in order to identify the most effective format for future nutrition messages. A qualitative methodology was employed and 114 children, aged 7-11 years, took part in 23 focus groups separated by age, gender and socio-economic status (SES). Issues discussed included parental food rules, children's perceptions of 'good' and 'bad' foods, diet-disease links and food groupings. Across the groups restrictive food rules were most frequently reported whilst between groups gender and SES differences were apparent in relation to parental control over food and children's nutritional knowledge. The limitations of the children's cognitive development could be seen in their conceptualization of food groups, where concrete grouping schemes were frequently used, and in the lack of understanding inherent in their food-health or food-nutrient associations. Taste and preference were confirmed as consistent influences in children's food classification. Primary school children may be receptive to food based dietary guidelines based on familiar, concrete food classifications. These should be cognitively appropriate and possibly need to be gender specific.

A tool for assessing healthy food knowledge in 5–6-year-old Australian children

“…It is also interesting to note that there were minimal gender differences and that girls, if anything, had slightly lower nutrition knowledge scores than boys. This is in contrast to previous literature, which found that girls achieved 85 % accuracy compared with only 65 % accuracy for boys in a sample of 7-11-year-old children (14) . Generalisability of the results may be limited by a selfselection bias because participants who volunteered for the study may have a greater interest in nutrition and may therefore place greater importance on teaching their children about healthy food than the general public.…”

A qualitative study of a food intervention in a primary school: Pupils as agents of change

“…This level of knowledge is consistent with other well established studies. (Edwards & Hartwell, 2002;Fitzgerald, Heary, Nixon, & Kelly, 2010;Hart, Bishop, & Truby, 2002).…”

It's good to talk: children's views on food and nutrition

“…However, children did demonstrate some level of discernment when it came to assessing the media as a source of nutrition information. For example, they were very distrustful of the Sunny Delight advertisements (a topical food advertisement at the time of data collection) and felt that they were misleading, a perception also noted by Hart et al (2002). Nutrition education has the potential to equip children with the skills they need to deal with the media pressures they will inevitably face throughout life, thereby helping them to become discerning consumers.…”