L'éducation en nutrition en milieu scolaire

Abstract

Purpose: School interventions aimed at developing nutrition knowledge are among the avenues to be considered to improve young Canadians' food habits. From a new toolkit targeting elementary school children in first and second grade, the report presents attitudes and behaviours of teachers having received and used the material. Methods: A total of 504 primary schools located in Quebec were solicited to participate in the study. A total of 214 teachers (42.5%) answered a self-administered questionnaire; 149 received the material and 63 used it. Results: Most of the respondents believed that schools should allocate more time for nutrition education. Those who have used the material identified the most popular themes as well as new themes to be developed. Limitations to the use of the material in class were related to lack of time. Conclusions: Results support a clear interest from teachers toward transmitting nutrition information at school and the necessity to consider schools' specific constraints and needs to benefit from these education efforts.