Oksana Matvienko1. 1. School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614-0241, USA. oksana.matvienko@uni.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To report the impact of nutrition education on snack choices of children ages 6 and 7 years. DESIGN: 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. SETTING: An after-school program in the school setting. PARTICIPANTS: 36 intervention and 23 comparison kindergarten and first-grade students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Students' snack choices were coded and analyzed. ANALYSIS: 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 AND IMPLICATIONS: 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.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To report the impact of nutrition education on snack choices of children ages 6 and 7 years. DESIGN: 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. SETTING: An after-school program in the school setting. PARTICIPANTS: 36 intervention and 23 comparison kindergarten and first-grade students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Students' snack choices were coded and analyzed. ANALYSIS: 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 AND IMPLICATIONS: 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.
Authors: Tracey Ledoux; Melissa Griffith; Debbe Thompson; Nga Nguyen; Kathy Watson; Janice Baranowski; Richard Buday; Dina Abdelsamad; Tom Baranowski Journal: Simul Gaming Date: 2016-02-17