| dc.description.abstract | Background: Students enrolled in Texas Christian University's Community Nutrition and Infant and Child Nutrition courses in the Department of Nutritional Sciences taught nine lessons about nutrition, health, and gardening to preschool children, ages 4-6, enrolled in the University Christian Church Weekday School (UCC WDS). The educational program was titled Seed to Plate. Research was conducted to identify how effective the program was, which areas in particular had the most positive impact on the children's and family's behaviors as related to nutrition, health, and gardening. Methods: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. A survey was developed and distributed using Survey Monkey, an electronic survey tool. An email with informed consent and a link to the survey was sent to a parent of each child that participated in the program during the spring 2013 semester. The survey consisted of questions to assess demographic data, current dietary practices of the children, frequency of meals eaten as a family and grocery shopping completed with child and parent together, use of the educational materials sent home through the Seed to Plate program, satisfaction with and value of the Seed to Plate program to the family, and if the family or children had implemented changes related to nutrition, health or gardening as a result of program participation. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 software. Results: Emails containing the consent and a link to the survey were sent to parents' email addresses (N=77) provided by the preschool to send one email per household of a child that took part in the program. All of the participants who responded (N=23) were mothers of the children enrolled in the Seed to Plate program with a response rate of ~30%. The mean age of participants was 35.9 +/- 8.3. Over 65% (N=15) of participants reported that the Seed to Plate program helped improve their children's dietary habits. About 57% (N=13) and 52% (N=12) reported that following the program their family ate more vegetables and fruits, respectively. Almost 61% (N=14) reported that they were highly satisfied with what their children learned from the program and ~70% (N=16) reported that their children had discussed the health benefits of different foods at home after completion of the program. Discussion: Despite reports of parental satisfaction with the Seed to Plate Program presented at UCC WDS and improved dietary habits in children following the program, it is difficult to assess the overall effectiveness of the program due to a low sample size and low response rate. Researchers may continue to evaluate the program by surveying parents of children that participate in the Seed to Plate program as it continues. | |
