The development and evaluation of a nutrition education program for the third and fourth grades

A nutrition education program for the third and fourth grade levels was developed within a sound educational structure, namely a systematic approach involving the five dimensions of motivation, concepts and generalizations, behavioral objectives, learning experiences and evaluation. To test the effectiveness of the nutrition education program, 117 children in two Vancouver schools participated in an experimental program. Fifty eight of these children were treated as two control groups, one group from each school. The other 59 children were treated as two experimental groups, one group in each school. Both the control and the experimental groups were pre- and post-tested using tests designed to evaluate the competency level of learning (Krathwohl et al., 1964; Bloom, 1965). The control groups did not receive any nutrition education. The experimental groups actively participated in nutrition education learning experiences for forty minutes, twice each week for six weeks. Evaluation proceeded during the week immediately before and immediately after the nutrition education program. The nutrition education program was found to improve significantly nutrition knowledge and comprehension for both grades. Although results of a parent questionnaire indicated that there had been significant improvement in nutrition attitudes at home, there was no general tendency toward improvement of dietary patterns reflected in the remaining tests.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat