4. Marco teórico
4.1 El valor de la educación social
consumption, (2) beverage consumption habits at school, and (3) a modified Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) about overall beverage intake. The first two topics were self-reported by the students, while FFQ was obtained with the help of a trained school staff.
After the programme, additional questionnaires were designed for parents and teachers. After 1 year a similar questionnaire was sent to each school that formerly participated in the intervention.
Based on the results, the project beneficially influenced the beverage consumption of the participating children, independently of the SES category. Thus, mineral water intake increased, and soft drink consumption decreased significantly after the intervention.
Contact Details:
Eva Martos
National Institute for Food and Nutrition Science (NIFNS) +361 476 1100
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Figure 26: Healthy Might be Tasty Programme Source: Healthy Might be Tasty Programme
The ‘Healthy might be Tasty’ program was designed to increase nutritional knowledge and Fruit and Vegetable consumption in primary school children by environmental intervention and education.
Aim & Objectives: The project aimed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among primary school children and to determine the most effective approach by comparing three different types of intervention.
Design: Participants were divided into three groups: (1) Education only, (2) Education and apple-providing vending machines (0.1 Euro per apple), (3) Education and free availability of fruit and vegetables as a snack.
Education in the classroom and leaflets about adequate fruit and vegetable consumption for the children, parents and teachers were also prepared.
The project was a 2-month intervention implemented in spring 2007.
Support: The project was supported by the Ministry of Health and private companies.
Trigger: The project was initiated by NIFNS as several nutritional surveys among children showed a low intake of fruit and vegetables.
Targeted Communities: In total, 750 children from 15 different schools were recruited, 3 of them were living in a low-income areas.
Evaluation: At baseline and after the program, all children filled in questionnaires about nutritional knowledge, and about fruit and vegetable consumption habits (based on the questionnaire used in the ProChildren Study).
The outcomes showed that, at baseline, only one third of the participants were aware of the amount of sufficient daily fruit and vegetable intake. If the children had been educated, the number of correct answers increased up to 55%. Fruit and vegetable consumption increased significantly among the participants after the program had finished. The largest increment could be observed among those children who had received fruit and vegetables as a free snack.
Contact Details:
Eva Martos
National Institute for Food and Nutrition Science (NIFNS) +361 476 1100
‘Healthy Might be Tasty’ Programme
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Germany
This is a project initiated by ‘Gesundheit Berlin e.V.’, a health promoting registered charity. It aims to change eating habits of Turkish children to a healthier option, both through their parents’ home and through their school environment.
Aim & Objectives: The aim of the project was to convey healthy eating habits to Turkish children through their parents' home while recognizing cultural habits. The course was carried out in close collaboration with the school so that a second aim was to create a health-promoting school environment.
Design: The general approach was setting orientated, via neighbourhoods and schools in the local area. Nutritionists, social workers, youth workers and teachers acted as multipliers, and a co-operation with a popular Turkish TV- station was established
The course design differs from conventional teaching (“We show you how to do
it!”) which was reduced to some background information on nutrition and mainly
focused on team teaching elements (“Let’s see what the group knows!”). As the settings were carefully chosen, the targeted groups were indeed reached. In cooperation with the social worker and the school directors, the school where the project took place provided an area where mothers were given the opportunity to share their personal experiences, e.g. cultural perception of food, eating or cooking habits.
Beyond the intervention goal of improving eating habits of the families the setting lead to participants acting jointly. Project leaders describe this aspect as basic for the success of the intervention: the common activities of the women had, in turn, positive effects on the social structures of the school where the project took place. Gradually participants were in contact with school workers, while they had not done this before due to the lack of German language knowledge. For the first time the Turkish mothers took part in a school party celebrating the inauguration of a new playground.
The initial phase started in September 2004 and finished in July 2005.
Nowadays there is such a high demand that the intervention has expanded from a local initiative to a federal wide one, four editions of the cookbook have been produced and in 2009 the BKK re-launches the cookbook and the course material.
Support: Partners of this project are the Federal association of health insurance companies (BKK), Ministry of consumption (auspices), Turkish ambassador, Turkish TV channel TD.
Gesundheit Berlin e.V. is a health promoting registered charity with a long history of successful and innovative pilot projects in the fields of health promotion and setting orientated approaches especially for socially excluded people.
Trigger: Turkish children have an above average tendency to suffer from obesity; this is documented by school enrolment medical examinations. In adult age, these persons suffer more often from coronary heart and other diseases. Healthy nutrition during childhood can prevent these. While conventional measures to improve nutrition in the Turkish population haven’t been very successful, especially due to language barriers, this intervention was created that explicitly integrates Turkish culture and tradition.