School-based nutrition education to improve children and their mothers’ knowledge on food and nutrition in rural areas of the Philippines

Introduction: Nutrition education among school children and their mothers is an opportunity to promote lifelong healthy eating behaviours to improve their nutrition and well-being. The present study determined the effectiveness of nutrition education modules in improving children and their mothers’ knowledge on food and nutrition. Likewise, changes in attitude and behaviour among children were also determined. Methods: Five nutrition education modules were developed with key messages on healthy plate, fruits and vegetables, protein sources, nutrient dense sources of energy, and water and healthy beverages. Grades 2 and 3 students received 60 hours of nutrition education with a duration of 25 minutes per session. Students were divided into two groups: (1) nutrition education alone (n=83) and (2) nutrition education with feeding (n=83). Simultaneously, a total of nine one hour nutrition education sessions were conducted among mothers, following the same five modules taught to the students. Mothers were also grouped according to their child’s group. Results: Student participants in both groups exhibited improvements in mean scores on knowledge, attitude, and behaviour (KAB) from baseline to end line. Based on results of mothers’ classes, mean post-test scores of participants were significantly higher than mean pre-test scores in both groups. Group 1 had a higher increase in score from 67.2±32.8 at pre-test to 71.8±33.7 in post-test. Conclusion: The developed nutrition education modules were effective in teaching children proper nutrition. Incorporation of these modules into the K to 12 curriculum will emphasise importance of proper nutrition in early childhood. Moreover, mothers’ classes can be an effective way to bridge the gap between school and community nutrition interventions.