Development and Feasibility Evaluation of Nutrition Education Materials for Prevention of Dental Caries in Young Mongolian Children

Abstract

Objective: Dental caries is prevalent in over 90% of young Mongolian children. Therefore, we developed nutritional materials for the prevention of young children dental caries and used them in nutrition education at a Mongolian kindergarten. We aimed to examine the feasibility of the materials for young Mongolian children through stakeholder evaluation.Methods: After field assessment, we determined the primary issue, and set the learning objective as "acquiring knowledge on how to choose and eat snacks." We developed theatrical materials for young children and a handbook in Mongolian for parents and teachers. A nutrition education class was conducted in a class for 5-year-olds at A public kindergarten. Simultaneously, handbooks were handed out to parents and teachers. To examine the feasibility of the materials, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 7 participants who followed nutrition education using the materials, and with 13 teachers for the handbooks. Moreover, we evaluated the degree of children's participation during the nutrition education class by observing video recordings.Results: Over 80% of the observers evaluated that both the title and contents of the theatrical materials met the needs and the level of children's understanding, and they hope to use them in the future.As for the handbook, 84.6% of the respondents answered, "it was useful for parents" and "they would like to provide it to parents." Most children responded to the quiz, and the level of participation was evaluated as satisfactory. Conclusion:The results suggest that teaching materials developed by us can be used in Mongolia in the future.