Diet in the educational environment

As part of this 2020 study, school nutrition services and extension staff were called to undertake a multi-component intervention in 3 rural elementary school cafeterias. The intervention involved decorating the cafeteria, forming creative names, applying taste tests, and setting up flavor stations. Monthly food waste coming from students’ plates were monitored over 8 months, and the school nutrition services staff were interviewed (after the intervention) on the acceptability and feasibility of the program. Although the level of food consumption was inconsistent across schools and time points, it was revealed that the children ate more fruits at school 1 during the taste test and flavor station intervention months, and at school 2 during the creative names intervention months (compared to pre-intervention). Also, the students at school 3 were three times as likely to choose to eat vegetables during the taste test intervention months as before the intervention. Cafeteria decorations and taste tests seemed to be more acceptable and feasible to implement when compared with other interventions. Nudge interventions (that alter the environment to achieve a desired behavior while maintaining the person’s ability to choose) are promising strategies for improving vegetable selection and consumption in school meal programs. [NPID: school, elementary school, nutrition, school cafeteria, cafeteria food, school nutrition, intervention, vegetables, eating veg, school meals, school programs]

Since it is important to encourage healthy dietary behaviors from early on in life, Himberg-Sundet et al. (2019) are keen on better understanding the factors that affect children’s food environment and the interaction between these factors with one another. This present study went to 73 different kindergartens and collected data on vegetables served, staff's food-related practices, and workplace climate and culture. The goal was to establish connections between workplace climate and culture in the kindergarten setting with staff's food-related practices and vegetables served. Furthermore, the possible mediating role of staff's food-related practices in these relationships was investigated. A significant correlation was identified between factors in the workplace climate and culture, with staff's food-related practices and vegetables served. It was also found that the staff’s dietary practices did have a mediatory effect on the association between support from superiors and the variety of vegetables served by the kindergarten. These practices even mediated the interlinks between commitment to the organization with the frequency and variety of vegetables served. To summarize the findings, commitment to the organization and support from superiors represent important factors in the workplace climate and culture and can be potentially targeted by interventions to increase the variety and frequency of vegetables served by the kindergarten (since they are linked to favourable food-related practices among staff). [NPID: intervention, kindergarten, children, workplace culture, dietary practices, food practices, vegetables, diet, workplace environment]

In this 2019 study, a total of 115 children were recruited from four elementary schools in Texas (USA) to undergo a 6-week nutrition education intervention program. The curriculum consisted of weekly nutrition education (lasting 25 minutes per session) and cooking demonstrations (20 minutes once a week) for children, and weekly nutrition handout for their parents. The objective of this study was to measure the effectiveness of this intervention in promoting dietary-related behaviors connected to fruit and vegetable consumption. Surveys were handed out pre- and post-intervention to assess nutritional knowledge, preference for fruits and vegetables, and cooking self-efficacy. Before the intervention, the variables evaluated did not significantly vary among the schools (except ethnicity). Following the intervention, there seemed to be improvements in many of the outcomes (nutritional knowledge, fruit, and vegetable intake self-efficacy, and cooking self-efficacy). Nutrition education interventions that incorporate theory and focus on behavior can enhance children’s knowledge, cooking skills, preference for fruits and vegetables, and specific dietary behaviors. Further tests will need to be carried out to determine whether the behaviors and nutritional knowledge are retained after a certain period. [NPID: intervention, nutrition, education, program, dietary behaviors, eating behaviors, nutritional knowledge, cooking, fruits and veg, fruits and vegetables, USA, Texas]

This 2020 study examines the effectiveness of the 'Water Does Wonders' interventions organized by London's Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) at encouraging young children in London to drink more water and less sugar-sweetened drinks. The interventions consisted of installing water bottle filling stations and initiating education programs, both aiming to influence the kids’ drinking behaviors. After the interventions, the school pupils that were given access to both water stations and education programs were found to have better nutritional knowledge, and drink more water and less sugary drinks, than those given access to the water station only. Although this research managed to convince the kids to drink healthier, the effects were small and non-significant. The author believes that this is probably because the educational interventions were not completely aligned with the goals of the 'Water Does Wonders' program, preventing them from seriously altering dietary behaviors. [NPID: interventions, water, sugary drinks, sugar, education, programs, children, drinking behavior, school, nutrition, nutritional knowledge, drinking water, child health, child obesity]

Although school gardening interventions normally have cooking and gardening components, this 2019 study tries to address the limited evidence available on the relationships between cooking and gardening psychosocial behaviors (such as attitudes, self-efficacy, and motivation), dietary consumption, and obesity. Landry et al. extracted data from an intervention study (LA Sprouts), which rolled out a randomized controlled cooking and gardening intervention for 12 weeks in four elementary schools in Los Angeles (USA). The purpose was to examine the association between cooking and gardening behaviors with obesity and dietary consumption among the school kids. These students came from low-income backgrounds and were mostly Latino or Hispanic. The participants were randomized to either take part in the LA Sprouts intervention or be assigned to the control group. Increased cooking behaviors significantly predicted increases in vegetable and dietary fiber intake. More fiber consumption was also predicted by extra modifications in gardening behaviors. This study supports the inclusion of cooking and gardening components in school-based interventions, despite the potentially higher costs and increased use of time and resources. These cooking and gardening behaviors may play a role in improving the diets of high-risk minority youth. [NPID: Latino, Hispanic, gardening, school, intervention, cooking, behaviors, diet, nutrition, Los Angeles, LA, USA, US, elementary school, obesity, child obesity, low income, vegetables, eating veg, eating vegetables, eating fiber, fiber]

Although bullying is known to negatively affect the victims’ quality of life and psychological health, Albaladejo-Blázquez et al. (2018) comment that studies have not yet investigated the effects of bullying on dietary habits, nor its relationship with psychological outcomes (such as depression). Thus, the objective of this present study was to determine if bullying, dietary habits, and depression are interrelated in a sample of Spanish adolescents. The results did demonstrate a link between victimization and less healthy eating habits and increased risk of depression. Dietary habits were also found to moderate the relationship between bullying and depression. In conclusion, diet seems to be highly relevant to bullying, particularly in victims. It is believed to possibly be connected with the high levels of depression experienced by bully victims. Therefore, intervention programs may want to tailor their approach when supporting bully victims to increase their chances of helping them manage their depression. [NPID: depression, bullying, bully, adolescents, dietary habits, eating habits, Spanish, Spain, bullied]