Effectiveness of nutrition education for elementary school children based on theory of planned behavior

Abstract

School children are facing rapid developments both mentally and physically – thus, good nutrition is very important in this phase of life to ensure their normal and healthy growth process. The current study aimed at examining the effect of peers education based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) on improving elementary female students’ behavioral nutrition in Chabahar, Iran, in 2017. In this quasi-experimental study, a total of 160 female elementary fourth-grade students were sampled using multi-stage random sampling and randomly divided into two groups of control and intervention. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. The questionnaire consisted of two parts, the first part consisting of demographic and awareness questions and the second part related to the constructs of the theory of planned behavior. The educational intervention was performed on the intervention group using question and answer method by trained peers (two 45-minute training session). Two months after the intervention, the same questionnaire was completed for the post-test. Data were analyzed by paired and independent t-test, Spearman correlation and regression with SPSS 16 software. The cognitive skills increased significantly from 8.01 to 9.95 after the intervention. All behavioral nutrition increased significantly from to 11.83 after implementing the intervention. The behavioral intention rose significantly from 8.82 to 10.05. Subjective norms showed a significant enhancement from 9.18 to 10.42. A significant increase was found in mean perceived behavioral control from 8.48 to 10.00. The results show that nutrition education based on TPB through training the peers is effective in the behavioral nutrition of elementary students that positively affects their behavior through increasing knowledge and TPB constructs.