Identifier	Thesis 2124
Author	Mader, Catherine M., 1982-
Title	Comparing methods of teaching nutrition among elementary school children
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication	2010
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Abstract	There are many factors that contribute to the nutrition choices children make. This experimental study was designed to compare the existing method of teaching the heath curriculum through activity with a new method of teaching the health curriculum through learned decision making skills. The objective was to observe a difference in the pre and post observation snack ratings of third grade students, between each curriculum. Participants in this study were (N= 55) students from Stevens Elementary School, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The third grade boys‟ and girls‟ ages ranged from 8-10 years. Students‟ snack choices were observed and rated before the health nutrition lessons were taught. Two of the four classes were then taught using the existing curriculum, learning nutrition through activity. The two remaining classes were taught using decision making skills in order to apply to nutrition choices, in a classroom setting. The snack choices were observed again, during snack time, to look into which group made better choices. Children‟s snack choices were recorded by the school physical educator and rated by three individuals, including the school nurse, a professor of nutrition, and an elementary school health and physical educator. Choices were measured by a rubric, developed with assistance from a nutrition expert and based on research information provided by the CDC (2010b). The rubric was a 1-3 scale, with 1 representing a snack that was high in sugar, sodium saturated fat and could not fit into the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. A 2 represented low in either sugar, sodium or saturated fat, and could fit into the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. A 3 represented a good snack choice with low sugar, sodium and low saturated fat. A factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the effects of the decision making curriculum, versus the regular curriculum, on student snack choices. The data was analyzed by comparing scores from each of the classes, before the health nutrition lessons were taught, with the scores each student received after the lessons were taught. The independent variable included the regular curriculum and the decision making curriculum. There was a significance found when the pre and post scores were analyzed. There were no significant findings between curriculums. The findings of the current study validate that students need to learn about nutrition in some way in order to make good choices. The method of teaching has no apparent consequences or benefits. Future research directions in this area of study should include a more specific rubric and allow time for all raters to meet and evaluate snack scores together.
Subject	Nutrition--Study and teaching (Elementary) Decision making in children
Department	Department of Physical Education and Human Performance
Advisor	Kostelis, Kimberly
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	706472796
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Comparing methods of teaching nutrition among elementary school children

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