What programs work to promote health for children? Exploring beliefs on microorganisms and on food safety control behavior in primary schools

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• 作者：Elena Faccio^a ; ^{elena.faccio@unipd.it} ; Norberto Costa^a ; Carmen Losasso^b ; Veronica Cappa^b ; Claudio Mantovani^c ; Veronica Cibin^b ; Igino Andrighetto^b ; ^d ; Antonia Ricci^b
• 关键词：Foodborne illness prevention ; Risk behavior ; Children's education ; Scientific drawing ; Evaluating the effectiveness of health programs
• 刊名：Food Control
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：October, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：33
• 期：2
• 页码：320-329
• 全文大小：431 K

文摘

Effective food safety interventions implemented in schools should be an important way to reach children and to improve their knowledge and habits in the context of food handling and personal hygiene. However, few intervention programs of this kind have been implemented with young children, as the preferred groups are secondary school children, young adults and adults. Even though introducing children to new hygiene habits and offering them simplified knowledge based on experience might be effective, health intervention programs and evaluation methods must be adapted to the peculiarity of childhood learning abilities.

This study provides an example of a health promotion campaign addressed at primary school students, with the aim of improving children's knowledge, correcting habits in the context of food safety, and enhancing the children's understanding of microorganisms and their functions. Children attending a program based on (1) mostly theoretical knowledge or (2) mostly practical information (with the scientific method of ¡°learn by playing¡±) were evaluated before and after the intervention using drawings and semi structured interviews to test the intervention effectiveness. Data extracted from an analysis of 492 drawings and of 141 interviews showed that practical classes are more effective than theory classes. Data also show that children's drawings could be used to simplify and consolidate the deep learning of scientific topics, and also to evaluate the successfulness of health promotion campaigns targeting young children. This should contribute to the amelioration of children's awareness of hygiene and food contamination-related risks, leading to significant benefits for primary prevention of foodborne illness.