Impact of a nutrition education curriculum on snack choices of children ages six and seven years.
OBJECTIVE
To report the impact of nutrition education on snack choices of children ages 6 and 7 years.


METHODS
In this quasi-experimental study, students at 2 intervention schools participated in a 4-week after-school program, NutriActive Healthy Experience, that included nutrition lessons, healthy snacks, and parent education. Students at 2 comparison schools did not receive any intervention but participated in the assessment of snack choices. Intervention and comparison students were offered the choice of 3 out of 10 snack items at baseline, at the end of the 4-week program, and 4 months later.


METHODS
An after-school program in the school setting.


METHODS
36 intervention and 23 comparison kindergarten and first-grade students.


METHODS
Students' snack choices were coded and analyzed.


METHODS
t test, repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).


RESULTS
Immediately after the program, the intervention group showed a 25.7% improvement in choosing more healthful snacks, and the comparison group showed an 18.2% decline. At 4 months, the intervention group's score was 33.3% higher than baseline and the comparison group's score remained 18.2% lower than baseline (time by treatment interaction, P= .023).


CONCLUSIONS
Intervention students were significantly more likely than comparison students to choose more healthful snacks when given the opportunity. The snack test may be a useful alternative for assessing snack choices of children ages six to seven years.
Matvienko
Oksana
O
School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614-0241, USA. oksana.matvienko@uni.edu
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003479:Curriculum; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors