Investigation of the Effectiveness of Nutrition Education Applied to Preschool Children

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the 12-week nutrition education given to pre-school children during the "Let's move fun and eat healthy" project which was supported to the P?nar Institute. In order to determine the effectiveness of the nutrition activities, interview form consisting of 9 questions was developed by the researchers. 33 children were interviewed from 19 pre-school education institutions affiliated to ?zmir Provincial Directorate of National Education where the project was implemented. Data were analyzed by the researchers and answers categorized. When asked children “what is the nutrition for you” children gave 35 different answers and they categorized three subjects. Children have defined nutrition as eating something, names of meals or as a name of food like apple, orange or yogurt. When we asked children for their most favorite meals they said that it is the carbohydrates. Only nine children define feeding plate truly. Most of them define it as a circle. Also only one children know the nutrition pyramid before the education. As a result of the study, we can said that 12 week nutrition education is affected children knowledge of healthy nutrition. Also teaching healthy nutrition basics in early age is important for promoting of health.