Starting young: Lasting impact on healthy food attitudes and behaviors from food education programs

10 Jan 2024 --- US-based researchers highlight the benefits of early experiential food education programs for kids, such as gardening and cooking lessons, on food decisions as they age. An evaluation of a program used in elementary schools for 15 years found it helps kids enjoy fresh food and preparation skills, while alum participants indicate it increased their openness to try new foods and confidence to make informed food decisions.

The research team conducted focus groups with current and alum participants of the FreshFarm FoodPrints food education program, which is embedded in over 20 elementary schools in the eastern US. 

“We hope the study will draw more attention to the potential for child and youth hands-on food education programs — particularly those that are embedded into the school day and available to all students — to have a sustained impact on food attitudes and behaviors as children grow up and transition to adulthood,” the study’s lead author, Christine St. Pierre, a researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, tells Nutrition Insight. 

“Our findings indicate that participating in experiential food education in childhood seems to contribute to lasting healthy dietary patterns associated with chronic disease and obesity prevention.” 

She adds that this is one of the first studies to follow up with food education participants years later. “We hope our study will promote further investment in these programs and research into their longer-term impact.” 

Effects beyond the classroom 
Researchers observed classes and interviewed program coaches and staff to prepare for the focus group sessions. These sessions focused on questions designed to gain insights into the typical participant experience, current nutrition behaviors, food environment and impression of the program. 

The study reveals three levels of impact — immediate, beyond the classroom and sustained. Direct effects include enjoying food experiences, hands-on learning of food skills and connecting with peers. 

“Beyond the classroom, we heard participants describe how what they learned in the program continues to influence their food choices and meal requests at home and motivates them to be involved in family food selection and preparation,” adds St. Pierre. 

“Enjoyable experiences with fresh foods at school led students to want to eat these foods at home. These findings can encourage parents and caregivers to provide hands-on food experiences at home and get children involved — increasing the likelihood that they will be willing to try and accept more foods.” 

A program’s experiential or hands-on nature is key to ensuring successful food education.As the education program maintained a network of alum participants since its establishment nearly 15 years ago, the researchers were also able to determine the program’s longer-term impact. 

St. Pierre details: “From our older participants who were making more of their own food decisions, we heard that the program gave them a lasting appreciation for fresh food and built their confidence that they can choose and prepare foods that they find both enjoyable and healthy.” 

Successful education programs 
St. Pierre underscores that participants value a program’s experiential or hands-on nature to ensure successful food education. 

“Growing and harvesting food in the garden, working together to prepare a recipe and eating food together — these activities led participants to discover they liked foods, especially vegetables, that they hadn’t been willing to try previously.” 

“Some keys to success for the program in our study were that it was embedded into the school day — so it was universally available to all students at the school — and it was provided at all grade levels, so the dose received was high by the time students completed elementary school.”

Moreover, St. Pierre emphasizes the importance of teachers’ flexibility in creating and adapting recipes relevant to their students’ food cultures. 

“For example, a focus group at one school described making a dish in the program that was similar to something they often ate at home ‘but with more vegetables added,’ and they were excited about this different way of enjoying the dish.”

Food literacy research 
The study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior notes that its findings provide a basis for future research to more precisely determine the influence of early exposure to food education programs on participants’ food intake. 

St. Pierre explains that understanding food literacy at different developmental stages of children and adolescents is an essential next step. 

“As critical thinking skills develop and agency increases through these different developmental stages, we need a greater understanding of how interrelated food knowledge, skills and attributes also evolve to enable individuals to make healthy choices as they navigate their food environment.” 

Researchers are calling to expand these programs due to the longer-term benefits of food education.“Food literacy and diet quality indicators can provide consistent quantitative metrics for tracking the impact of food education programs. We also know that food intake is influenced by several factors, not only at the individual level but also at broader environmental and societal levels. 

She underscores that a greater understanding of food literacy in children and adolescents, including barriers to applying food literacy, can also indicate opportunities for intervention at systems and environment levels to facilitate healthy choices more readily.

Extending programs 
The current study concludes that a greater understanding of the sustained influence of these education programs can help shape policy and practice for addressing youth dietary intake. 

“One example of this is greater investment in and prioritization of experiential food education programs,” adds St. Pierre. “Here in Washington, DC, the local government recognizes the benefits of these programs and has provided financial support that helps sustain programs from year to year.” 

“Another possibility could be expanding experiential food education in middle and high schools, progressively equipping students with the skills and attributes they will use to transition to young adulthood and gain autonomy over their food choices.”  

She shares that older focus group participants lamented the lack of opportunity to continue in experiential food education beyond elementary school and expressed a desire for programming that would grow alongside them. 

Recognizing the potential of schools to bolster healthy eating, the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) has launched a visual food roadmap in the UK to complement the food curriculum, guiding teachers and students on topics and practices for healthy eating and cooking. 

The BNF also launched a nutrition and food education program for teachers in UK primary schools to help them refresh their knowledge and impart this to their students. 

By Jolanda van Hal