The development of a taste education program for preschoolers and evaluation of a program by parents and childcare personnel

Abstract

The change in people's dietary life has led to an increase in an intake of processed foods and food chemicals, raising awareness about taste education for preschoolers whose dietary habits start to grow. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and satisfaction of parents and childcare personnel after developing a taste education program and demonstrating it in class. A part of the curriculum developed by Piusais and Pierre was referred for the program. After educating 524 preschoolers in child care facilities in Seoul, a satisfaction survey was conducted on the program. The data in this study were analyzed using SPSS 14.0. Statistical analysis was conducted based on the frequency after collecting the data. Mean ± SD used to determine satisfaction with taste education, with preferences marked on a five-point scale and the alpha was set at 0.05. The program includes five teachers' guides with subjects of sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and harmony of flavor, and ten kinds of teaching tools. For the change in parents' recognition of the need for taste education based on five-point scale, the average of 4.06 ± 0.62 before the program has significantly increased to 4.32 ± 0.52 (P < 0.01). Regarding the change in the preferences for sweetness, saltiness, sourness, and bitterness, the average has increased to 3.83 ± 0.61, 3.62 ± 0.66, 3.64 ± 0.66, and 3.56 ± 0.75 respectively. In an evaluation of instructors in child care facilities, the average scores for education method, education effect, education contents and nutritionists, and teaching tools were at 4.15 ± 0.63, 3.91 ± 0.50, 4.18 ± 0.50, and 3.80 ± 0.56 respectively. In addition, the need for a continuous taste education scored 4.42 ± 0.67. This program has created a positive change in preschoolers' dietary life, therefore the continuation and propagation of the taste education program should be considered.

Food as a tool for learning in everyday activities at preschool – an exploratory study from Sweden

“…Studies show that children dare to try more new foods and dishes when they have worked with sensory training ( 43 , 44 ) and the Sapere method ( 34 – 38 ). This is in accordance with our results as well as a recently published dissertation from the Netherlands ( 39 ), where both teachers and children (4–12 years) experienced the laboratory learning with sensory exercises as very positive.…”

Taste education reduces food neophobia and increases willingness to try novel foods in school children

“…Most dietary education programs developed in Korea for children consist primarily of simple nutritional education and culinary activities. In one study, parents and teachers of participating children aged 4-7 years who took five lessons of the taste education program observed a positive change in children's dietary habits; however, the study indicated a need to develop tools to measure effectiveness suitable for the age of the participating children as well as programs with long-term effects [ 15 ]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide measures that can promote taste education by highlighting the effects of dietary habit improvement for children in order to improve their long-term physical and mental health and facilitate the development of independent dietary habits.…”

Participatory Action Research to Develop Nutrition Education Videos for Child Care Providers

“…This lack of knowledge presents a key barrier for the provision of nutrition learning experiences, since providing these experiences typically depends on nutrition knowledge and self-efficacy (Lanigan, 2012). A number of traditional, face-to-face educational programs have been developed that train child care providers to teach children about nutrition (Quintana, Villalobos, & May, 2012; Shon, Park, Ryou, Na, & Choi, 2012). However, these programs may only reach a small number of child care providers.…”