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DFM 655
The specific target audience for our nutrition education project are children
between the age of seven and eight. “As the prevalence of obesity amongst children
increased over the years, policymakers are focusing on providing healthier food options
in schools” (Bauer & Liou, 2016). Evidently, there is a need for educating children on
age group are eager to learn and can follow directions. “They are also able to understand
how food can influence our body, and they are very likely to accept food choice
recommendations coming from an adult” (Bauer & Liou, 2016). Therefore, we choose to
educate our nutrition topic to children between the age of seven and eight.
As mentioned, overweight and childhood obesity are major issues and we think
early nutrition education and intervention can be beneficial to help obesity at an early
age. “Studies found frequent consumption of energy-dense foods, sweets, and processed
foods have positively associated with childhood obesity” (Grigorakis et al., 2016).
Consumption of a diet high in calories and snacks will inevitably lower the intake of
fruits and vegetables that are high in vitamin and minerals. In addition, low intake of
fruits and vegetables are negatively impacting children’s health and development. “There
is significant evidence that many diseases are related to consuming few fruits and
vegetables, and such bad eating habits can be translated into adulthood” (Dudley, Cotton,
Peralta, 2015). As a result, nutrition education will be valuable information for children
audience, to find a determinant of change in children ages seven and eight. Taste is one of
the most common key determinants as to why we choose what we eat, especially children
that are picky eaters. “Studies have found picky eaters between the ages 4 and 8 ate less
fruits and vegetables compared to non-picky eaters” (Taylor, Wernimont, Northstone &
Emmett, 2015). Children tend to gravitate towards foods that are refined, energy-dense
and that are not the most nutritious for them. “Children also tend to be scared to try new
incorporate more vegetables is by hiding them into foods that they already like and eat.
During presentation, almost all students raised their hands when asked if they like
smoothies. Smoothies are definitely a great way to incorporate bitter green vegetables
that most children do not enjoy with fruits that are sweet, which makes it more acceptable
The theory we have selected to educate children ages 7 and 8 on eating the
rainbow is the Social Cognitive Theory. As mentioned, children in the age group between
6 to 11 are eager to learn and capable of self-assessment. “The Social Cognitive Theory is
factor” (Bauer & Liou, 2016). In this case, teaching children all the vitamins associated
with fruits and vegetables acts as an environmental factor that can potentially influence
consumption of more fruits and vegetables. For example, knowing why to eat healthy,
what healthy foods are, and the recommended amount may initiate voluntary healthy
eating. Smoothie making is a great way to promote observational and hands-on learning,
children can be nurtured by the environment and by the people that surrounds them in
The main goal of our nutrition education class was to encourage kids to eat a
variety of fruits and vegetables in different colors to get all the nutrients the body needs.
slogan “taste the rainbow”, which correlates to our lesson’s name “Eating the Rainbow”.
The focus was to visualize all the different colors of the rainbow filled with fruits and
vegetables of each color. We created a lesson plan (Appendix A) with three objectives
consisting of three domains: cognitive to make them think, affective to make them feel,
For the cognitive domain, the goal is to have the children think and self-assess
how many colors of the rainbow they eat each day. The level we utilized was evaluation
because the children are self-assessing themselves by evaluating how many colors of the
rainbow they eat each day, meaning all the colors of fruits and vegetables. The
colors of fruits and vegetables each day. The affective domain is to make them aware of
the importance of eating vitamins, minerals and fiber and their role in the body. The level
we utilized for this domain was receiving because the children are acknowledging the
moderation of fruits and vegetables and how their nutrients such as vitamins, minerals
and fibers impact the body positively. The generalization for this objective is how
vitamins, minerals and fiber help our body run smoothly. Lastly, the psychomotor
domain is to have the children participate in a smoothie making activity where they will
use every color of the rainbow. The level we used was perception since the children will
be preparing and tasting delicious smoothies using different colors of the rainbow. The
generalization of this objective is to show how smoothies are a good source to get all the
We decided to split our lesson into three parts while using a Powerpoint brief
presentation. For the first part, we discuss the different kind of fruits and vegetables and
their color group. We also focused on teaching the children about the serving portions
they should consume each day while also telling them how the nutrients in all these fruits
and vegetables are the building blocks in our body such as vitamins, minerals and fiber.
The smoothie activity is performed as the second part of the lesson, so that way the kids
can engage in a learning activity to shift their focus. After the smoothie activity, the focus
was shifted back to the teacher where she finished up the lesson by having the children
think of ways they can add fruits and vegetables to their meals and snacks every day as
well as encourage them to put food waste like banana peels in the green compost bin. We
finished the lesson by summarizing the 4 key points of our lesson which are: eat at least 5
servings of fruits and vegetables each day, eat all the colors of the rainbow, ways to add
fruits and vegetables to their meals and snacks and where to place food waste such as
For the smoothie activity, we created a recipe where we used most of the colors of
the rainbow. The recipe (Appendix B) called for strawberries, banana, carrots, spinach,
pineapple and blueberries. We also used almond unsweetened milk to blend everything
together in a blender. Since our class wasn’t the set up we hoped for, we asked for a
volunteer to come up and be our helper during the activity. If the classroom set-up was
able to form groups, it would be three groups and each group would be able to make a
smoothie with their classmates. Since we are three teachers, we would each take care of
one group. However since this was not the case, the special helper was the only
volunteer. For this activity we used a blender, a ½ measuring cup and dixie 3 oz cups to
pour the smoothie sample for each child. The volunteer poured all the fruits and veggies
into the blender while naming them. The teacher helping the volunteer, states the
vitamins and minerals that specific fruit or vegetable contains. Every child gets a 3 oz
At the end of the lesson, we passed out a smoothie recipe they can make at home
with their parents or guardians. The recipe handout was in big words and very
straightforward for them to read and follow. We also encouraged kids to go grocery
shopping with their parents and pick up fruits and vegetables of every color of the
rainbow. We considered this as their assignment and see what meals and snacks they
come up with.
Results
We did not perform any online surveys or in class paper surveys since we didn’t
think it would be applicable for our specific target audience. However, we then realized
we could have conducted a small survey of 4 to 5 simple questions after the lesson such
as: How many fruits and vegetables do you eat a day? Or did you like the smoothie we
made today? This data could have given us an idea of how many fruits and vegetables
these children are consuming each day as well as predict if they would make the
smoothie again at home. Since we weren’t able to provide no data, we each performed a
self-reflection form for our presentation (Appendix C), which discusses the pros and cons
Discussion
We did not perform any formative or summative evaluations for our presentation
since we did not think it would be applicable for our specific target audience. We did ask
the children what they thought of when they heard “taste the rainbow” and a couple
examples of each color for fruits and vegetables. We assumed that the children would be
able to know what “taste the rainbow” meant from watching television or from other
sources and that they would have experienced fruits and vegetables from the different
colors of the rainbow in their daily lives. There wasn’t any information available on
whether or not kids knew about fruits and vegetables but there was data available on how
Data shows that 64.6% of children from the ages 2-11 in California don’t
consume the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (Kids Data, 2018).
This shows that there is a need for more education about fruits and vegetables, serving
nutritional values of the fruits and vegetables. The children were able to give us a couple
of examples for each color of the rainbow so it shows that we were right in assuming that
children know fruits and vegetables for the different colors of the rainbow.
The three pros that we had for the presentation were that the children were
enthusiastic about the lesson, we had great volunteers, and that the children were
knowledgeable about the topic. Having the children knowledgeable and enthusiastic
allowed us to have a good energy vibe flowing throughout the presentation. The three
cons for the presentation were that we could have asked more questions during the
lesson, being more engaged during the process of making the smoothie, and having the
smoothie process be more organized. The format of the room didn’t allow us to ask for
multiple volunteers when doing the smoothie. We had originally planned to have the
smoothie demonstration done in the middle of the front of the room and have multiple
volunteers help put the fruits into the blender. The blender’s cord was too short and we
were forced to do the demonstration in the corner of the room. Overall, we thought our
presentation did well, but it could have been improved through more engagement with
the children.
Conclusion
Our presentation was good and simple for the children ages seven and eight. They
were able to be engaged with the presentation and comprehend the material being taught.
The presentation could have included more engagement from the presenters but the
presentation still went well with the amount of engagement from the Powerpoint and
activity. Although children typically do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and
vegetables a day, they were very excited to learn about them. The issue with children not
eating enough fruits and vegetables a day could most likely be improved by educating
children and getting them excited about eating fruits and vegetables.
References
Bauer, K. D., & Liou, D. (2016). Nutrition counseling and education skill development
(3rd ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning.
Children Who Eat Five or More Servings of Fruits and Vegetables Daily, by Age Group.
(2018). Retrieved December 18, 2018, from
https://www.kidsdata.org/topic/739/nutrition-fruitsandvegetables-
age/table#fmt=1122&loc=2,127,1657,331,1656,171,1655,345,357,324,369,362,3
60,337,364,356,217,328,354,320,339,334,365,343,367,344,355,366,368,265,349,
361,4,273,59,370,326,341,338,350,342,359,363,340,335&tf=109&ch=1091,486
Dudley, D. D., Cotton, W., Peralta, L. R. (2015). Teaching approaches and strategies that
promote healthy eating in primary school children: a systematic review and meta-
analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-015-0182-8
Grigorakis, D.A., Georgoulis, M., Psarra, G. et al. (2016). Prevalence and lifestyle
determinants of central obesity in children. European Journal Nutrition, 55(5),
1923- 1931.
Stafford, L. D. (2018). Food neophobia, autistic traits, and body mass index: a broader
behavioral constellation?. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 108(4),
654–655.
-Benefits (health)
-ex: smoothies