Cafeteria Factors That Influence Milk-Drinking Behaviors of Elementary School Children: Grounded Theory Approach

Nutrition education in public elementary schools of São Paulo, Brazil: the Reducing Risks of Illness and Death in Adulthood project

“…Shared experiences create social norms and provide opportunities for observing peer behavior 5 . Motivated and instructed teachers should become supportive and stimulators of desirable behavior among students 10,22 .…”

“…Although young children may lack the cognitive development to bring behavior into alignment with health beliefs they are still aware that "nutrition" is somehow important and as such are building a knowledge base for future reference when there will be greater interaction between knowledge and self-regulation 5 . Some authors believe that children are not reliable sources of information on their own eating preferences.…”

“…The pedagogical approach for the NE program was based on Piaget's Theory, which provides a useful framework for nutrition educators in supplying appropriate teaching strategies 11 . Connors et al 5 reinforces that elementary school children use concrete experiences rather than abstract ones to understand their world. Learning methods also included modeling, self-monitoring, problem solving reinforcement and educational games.…”

“…Although young children can lack the cognitive development to bring behavior into alignment with health beliefs, they are still aware that "nutrition" is somehow important and are building a knowledge basis for future reference when there will be greater interaction between knowledge and self-regulation 5 . The concern over initiating nutritional education among children at an early age is based on the fact that their eating habits acquired in childhood will have a lifelong effect on the individual's eating behavior 6 .…”

“…Several countries have carried out studies on the implementation of NE programs in schools aimed at augmenting the knowledge regarding nutrition among the children and their parents, thus improving their eating behavior, and hence, their health 1,[4][5][6][7][8] . In 2000, an initiative was undertaken to develop and test the efficacy of a multidisciplinary program in Elementary Schools in São Paulo (Brazil) in order to reduce obesity risk factors by promoting healthy lifestyle habits.…”