Increasing knowledge of and promoting positive attitudes towards the consumption of fruit and vegetables among pre-school children, parents, and teachers in three childcares in one city in a Midwestern United States county: A multi-level intervention of teachers, parents, and children
Creators: name: Frazier, Shelley Lynn
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: early childhood education
subject: cooking
subject: intervention
subject: gardening
subject: healthy eating
subject: parental involvement
subject: public health
subject: health education

description: Obesity in the United States continues to be a public health issue that is directly related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Eating enough fruits and vegetables daily can lead to healthier diets thus lowering the risks of obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 35.2% of adults in Michigan are obese or overweight, and specifically 40.2% of adults in Genesee County, 41.7% in Saginaw County, 37.5% in Shiawassee County, and 38.3% in Lapeer County, all present higher rates than Michigan’s’ overall rate. According to National Survey of Children’s Health 12.7% of 2–5-year-olds, 20.7% of 6–11-year-olds, and 22.2% of 12–19-year-olds are obese nationally . Parents and caregivers who serve and eat fruits and vegetables with their children tend to have a positive impact on their dietary quality with healthier food choices. This intervention is aimed at children, parents, and teachers in pre-schools in Flint, Michigan in the zip codes 48505, 48506 and 48529 to promote knowledge, positive attitudes towards, and consumption of fruit and vegetables. The targeted community has a low consumption rate of fruits and vegetables due to low availability or accessibility, lack of knowledge of preparation, or due to costs. This intervention is multi-level because it includes children, teachers/childcare providers and parents participating together for a goal of more fruit and vegetable intakes. A horticulturist will teach the teachers/providers gardening skills as well as make visits during the growing season with the children. Children’s lessons are age-appropriate and intended to be delivered over a 6-week period that include gardening skills, fruit and vegetable education and experiments, farmer’s market visits, and use 6 different preschool-aged picture books/activities each week. The strategies for the providers/teachers are to teach the children in their care about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, where they come from by growing a garden, cooking and exploring what parts we eat and activities related to healthy behaviors. The strategies for the teachers are professional development workshops so that they feel comfortable about teaching the lessons. Parent strategies are to use what the children learn and incorporate it into their home activities and menus. Activities for parents will be available on the website, blog, weekly Zoom meeting lead by teachers/providers, and parent classroom newsletters. This intervention is unique as it uses preschool-level fruit and vegetable subject books as a basis for each weekly lesson. All the activities in the lessons are centered around the topic of the selected book for that lesson with the expectation that they will promote positive attitudes towards and increase the intake of fruits and vegetables. In addition the inclusion of parent weekly Zoom meetings to educate parents about what their child is learning at childcare so they can either duplicate or enhance it at home. The design is a pre-post one group quasi-experimental mix-methods design. A mixture of quantitative close-ended and qualitative open-ended questions will be asked of parents and staff. As part of the process evaluation, parents and staff will be asked open- and close-ended questions on how they recommend improving the program. As part of the outcome evaluation, parents and staff will be asked questions to understand how their knowledge of and attitudes towards the use of fruit and vegetables changed. Children will be asked simple Yes/No questions on how they enjoyed the activities (process evaluation) and how they enjoy growing and consuming fruit and vegetables (outcome evaluation). By having a multi-level intervention, the intention is that knowledge and behaviors learned through the intervention will be more sustainable over time.