Assessing willingness to try novel and familiar foods in British Columbia school children : impact of Food Explorers, a classroom-based food experience program
department or school: Medicine, Faculty of
department or school: Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Murthy, Gayathri
issued: 2018-12-19T18:03:09Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Background: The Food Explorers (FE) program was designed and developed for use with kindergarten and grade 1 children. Offered within the classroom setting, the program aims to encourage children to identify and experience a wide variety of foods. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the program on children’s willingness to try new and familiar foods. Methods: A quasi- experimental pre-post design was employed to evaluate the impact of the program on children’s familiarity and willingness to try novel and familiar test foods. Children in the FE group participated in food -related classroom activities led by teachers, over 5 months and the control group were taught the standard curriculum. Assessments of familiarity and willingness to try foods was completed at baseline and after 5 months in both groups. Parent-perceived food neophobia was also assessed using a validated scale at both times. Open-ended questions were used to assess parent and teacher experience with the program. Results: Analyses were conducted with 194 children (FE group, n=102 and control group, n=92). Knowledge of familiar foods increased over time in both groups and a significant group by time interaction was observed with 2 test foods (out of 10) at follow-up, indicating increased knowledge in the FE group, compared to the control group. Willingness to try the test foods, measured as food preference scores significantly increased for five novel foods in the FE group compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed in parent-perceived food neophobia scores between groups. Parents indicated positive experiences with respect to their children’s willingness to try new foods at home. Positive experiences were also noted by the teachers. Conclusion: While there is some evidence to suggest that the FE program may positively impact food knowledge and willingness to try new foods in kindergarten and grade 1 children, limitations of the study and implementation of …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/68104
note: ASSESSING WILLINGNESS TO TRY NOVEL AND FAMILIAR FOODS IN BRTISH COLUMBIA SCHOOL CHILDREN: IMPACT OF FOOD EXPLORERS, A CLASSROOM-BASED FOOD EXPERIENCE PROGRAM by Gayathri Murthy M.Sc., Bharathiar University, 1997 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Population and Public Health) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2018 © Gayathri Murthy, 2018 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Assessing willingness to try novel and familiar foods in British Columbia children: Impact of Food Explorers, a classroom -based food experience program submitted by Gayathri Murthy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Population and Public Health Examining Committee: Rachel Murphy, School of Population and Public Health Supervisor Louise Mâsse, School of Population and Public Health Supervisory Committee Member Jennifer Black, Food, Nutrition and Health Supervisory Committee Member Martin Guhn, School of Population and Public Health Additional Examiner iii Abstract Background: The Food Explorers (FE) program was designed and developed for use with kindergarten and grade 1 children. Offered within the classroom setting, the program aims to encourage children to identify and experience a wide variety of foods. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the program on children’s willingness to try new and familiar foods. Methods: A quasi- experimental pre-post design was employed to evaluate the impact of the program on children’s familiarity and willingness to try novel and familiar test foods. Children in the FE group participated in food -related classroom activities led by teachers, over 5 months and the control group were taught the standard curriculum. Assessments of…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2019-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0375786
language: eng
degree discipline: Population and Public Health
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/68104