The impact of a nutrition education program on nutrition knowledge and attitudes, as well as food selection, in a cohort of migrant and seasonal farm worker children

The importance of nutrition education in schools has been recognized worldwide. It is well known that nutrition education promotes the health of children and contributes to the overall wellbeing of the public. This study examined the impact of an eight-week nutrition education program on nutrition knowledge and attitudes, as well as on food selection, in a cohort of 128 migrant and seasonal farm worker children. The children were randomly assigned to either a control or an intervention group. Both groups were administered a validated nutrition questionnaire at the beginning of the study, immediately after an eight-week nutrition education program and again four weeks subsequently.;At the pre-test, a majority of the children in both the intervention and control groups reported consumption of more dairy products and less meats, grains, fruits and vegetables than is recommended by the USDA. Daily servings of "junk foods" were also reportedly high among all the children in the study. ANOVA with repeated measures revealed that children in the intervention group who participated in the nutrition education program had significant gains in nutrition knowledge, which was maintained for at least one month. The quality of food selection and the attitude towards good nutrition improved significantly among the children who received the nutrition education program as opposed to the control group.;An independent-samples t test revealed that gender did not have a confounding effect on nutrition knowledge scores or attitude regarding good nutrition scores. "Trying to lose weight" did not have a confounding potential on the quality of food selection yet the confounding effect of "hours of TV watched" at the second had a moderate confounding effect on the quality of food selection.;The study revealed that a population of migrant children demonstrated an improvement in nutrition knowledge, attitudes about nutrition and healthy food selection practices as a result of a structured nutrition education program. The nutrition education program had an impact on this unique and high risk population.