Using Food Models to Enhance Sugar Literacy among Older Adolescents: Evaluation of a Brief Experiential Nutrition Education Intervention

Abstract

Adolescent diets high in sugar are a public health concern. Sugar literacy interventions have changed intake but focused more on children, adults, and early adolescents and on sugar sweetened beverages rather than total sugar consumption. Food models are an efficacious experiential learning strategy with children. This study assessed the impact of two 45 min nutrition lessons using food models on adolescents’ sugar literacy. Classes (n = 16) were randomized to intervention or control with knowledge, label reading skills, intentions to limit sugar consumption measured at baseline and follow-up. Two hundred and three students aged 14 to 19 from six schools on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada participated in the study. Adolescents’ knowledge of added sugar in foods and beverages and servings per food group in a healthy diet was limited at baseline but improved significantly in the intervention condition (F(1, 201) = 104.84, p < 0.001) compared to controls. Intention to consume less added sugar increased significantly after intervention (F(1, 201) = 4.93, p = 0.03) as did label reading confidence (F(1, 200) = 14.94, p < 0.001). A brief experiential learning intervention using food models was efficacious for changing student’s knowledge about sugar guidelines and sugar in food, label reading confidence, and intention to change sugar consumption.

Education and Diet in the Scientific Literature: A Study of the Productive, Structural, and Dynamic Development in Web of Science

“…Specifically, dietary education can promote the adequate behavior of adolescents in the face of their inadequate diet [7]. In line with this, it has been observed that youths follow a diet with a high sugar content, which is detrimental to their health [8].…”

The drivers, trends and dietary impacts of non-nutritive sweeteners in the food supply: a narrative review

“…media campaigns (6,137,(162)(163)(164)(165)(166)(167)(168)(169)(170) , community education (171)(172)(173)(174)(175)(176)(177)(178) and education in schools and childcare centres (179)(180)(181)(182)(183)(184)(185)(186)(187)(188)(189)(190)(191)(192)(193)(194)(195)(196) on the harms of excess added sugar consumption. Of the studies exploring this policy action (n 39), only eight (Table 4) addressed the impact that education interventions to reduce added sugar intake may have on NNS consumption and levels in the food supply.…”

Dietary Intervention through Flipped Learning as a Techno Pedagogy for the Promotion of Healthy Eating in Secondary Education

“…In this sense, the fact of being overweight or obese can generate serious public health problems [46], affecting the increase in the mortality rate [47]. In the educational field, the assimilation of good eating habits in students [48] acquires great relevance, given that the actions developed through transversal treatment or nutritional education programs promote adequate dietary guidelines [49,50] while avoiding bad praxis, among which is the intake of sugars and other substances harmful to health [51,52], especially in those people who have various diseases, such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems [53,54].…”