Process and outcome of a four-week garden-enhanced nutrition education programme to improve knowledge and vegetable consumption of school-age children in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Background
Diets of school-age children are increasingly becoming energy-dense, coupled with the
poor consumption of vegetables and fruits. This situation predisposes them to
malnutrition and non-communicable diseases. A garden-enhanced nutrition education
programme was therefore designed to promote knowledge and consumption of vegetables.
Objective
To design a garden-enhanced nutrition education programme to promote knowledge and
consumption of vegetables.
Methods
A 4-week garden-enhanced nutrition education pilot programme tagged ‘Kids Nutri
garden Vacation School (KNGVS) was implemented during the long vacation of elementary
schools. School-age children 6 – 11 (n=24) participated in the programme. The
intervention included weekly outdoor and indoor activities of hands-on vegetable
gardening, nutrition education lessons, and a cooking demonstration session. Data on
nutrition knowledge, asking behaviour and consumption of vegetables were obtained at
baseline (pre-test), endline (post-test) and six weeks follow-up and compared using one
way ANOVA. Qualitative data on parents’ perception of the intervention programme was
obtained and reported thematically.
Results
There was a statistically signifcant increase in nutrition knowledge scores: pre-test =
39.2±9.1, post-test = 48.3±6.7, which was maintained at the 6-week follow-up = 48.9±4.4,
F=13.45, p<0.00). The number of children who reported that they ate vegetables always
also increased: pre-test =12.5%, post-test = 20.8%, follow-up = 33.3%. All parents (100%)
reported that their children had become more conscious of consuming vegetables and
healthy food choices to a great extent.
Conclusions
The garden-enhanced nutrition education approach is a promising food-system related
framework that provides a window of opportunity for influencing knowledge and practice
of healthy eating among school-age children in developing countries like Nigeria. It
leverages hands-on learning to give the children first-hand experience on the linkages
between nutrition, health, agriculture and the environment at different levels of social
interaction. There is a need to test this framework further while implementing it at a larger
scale within the regular primary school academic calender.