Nutrition Education Module and Workbook Development for Primary School Children

Abstract

Primary school students are in a period of continued growth and development after the pre-school age period. However several studies have shown that children at this age are vulnerable to under- and over-nutrition, which can interfere in their learning process and school achievement. The objective of this activity was to develop a nutrition education module for primary school students aged 8-12 years. This activity was held on January – August 2018 into Primary Schools of Bogor. The steps of this activity included: 1) to establish of technical working group (TWG); 2) to review existing nutrition education for primary school students; and 3) to develop student module and workbook (SMW) for nutrition education. The TWG which were formed, consists of school principles, nutrition professional society (Food and Nutrition Society of Indonesia), university staffs (Bogor Agricultural University and SAHID University Jakarta), and local government (Bogor Education Office). This activity was done collaboration with SEA-PHN. Currently, there is no activity on nutrition education at these schools, neither teacher guide for nutrition education for primary school students. The TWG developed nine topics of SMW were developed, namely balance diet and my plate, active and healthy life, cereals, fruit and vegetable, protein food, limit sugar salt and fat, choosing safe and nutritious food, food label, and summary. The SMW was designed colorfully and interestingly. Prior to final version of SMW, it was assessed to be used by school children. In conclusion, the SMW could be used to educate primary school students on nutrition.

Is nutritional education in primary schools needed in the light of teachers’ diagnosis of the state of knowledge about food and nutrition of 7–12-year-old primary school pupils? The Focus Group Interview (FGI) – Junior-Edu-Żywienie (JEŻ) Project

“…Educators advocate the development of integrated programmes between the ministries of education, health, teachers, children and parents to ensure that nutrition education is comprehensive and reinforced in different settings, as other authors also point out [12,21,25,35]. Of course, the influence of the main educational environments, namely the family and the school, will be all the more effective the more consistent the content conveyed by these institutions.…”

“…Among the studies undertaken in Poland in the field of nutrition education [7,18,[22][23][24], there is a distinct lack of qualitative research among teachers allowing, among other things, an exploration of the determinants of the implementation of nutrition education in elementary schools, the state of knowledge of pupils and their attitudes towards food and nutrition issues, and the possibility of developing and implementing appropriate preventive measures, including educational ones. This necessity is also emphasized by other authors [17,25], according to whom it is important to explain why some nutritional education programmes do not have satisfactory results, and the scale of obesity and other non-communicable chronic diseases among pupils and adolescents, both in Poland and other countries, continues to increase [3].…”