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. 2019 Jul 13;11(7):1590.
doi: 10.3390/nu11071590.

Effectiveness of Teacher-Led Nutritional Lessons in Altering Dietary Habits and Nutritional Status in Preschool Children: Adoption of a NASA Mission X-Based Program

Jieun Kim  1 , Gilsook Kim  2 , Jinah Park  3 , Youfa Wang  4 , Hyunjung Lim  5
Affiliations

Effectiveness of Teacher-Led Nutritional Lessons in Altering Dietary Habits and Nutritional Status in Preschool Children: Adoption of a NASA Mission X-Based Program

Jieun Kim et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The preschool years are a sensitive period for the development of food preferences that will affect physical growth and life-long health. The promotion of healthy eating and nutritional status was achieved by adapting the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mission X (MX) Program among young children in South Korea. The intervention program was delivered by nutritional experts and class teachers over 10 weeks. Children from 37 school classes (n = 534) from 7 daycares and kindergartens were randomized into a control group (CG, n = 280) and an intervention group (IG, n = 254). Parents were surveyed for their children's characteristics and nutrition quotient (NQ) at baseline and at the 10-week follow-up. At baseline, 18.8% (boys: 18.9%; girls: 18.8%) of the subjects were overweight or obese (body mass index ≥ 85th percentile). After the intervention, the mean differences in various anthropometric measures did not differ significantly between the groups in a linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, and type of school. The NQ grades were significantly higher in the IG than the CG after the intervention (p = 0.000). In summary, the 10-week South Korean MX program improved the eating behaviors and nutrition status of young children. A further multisector prevention program is needed to prevent childhood obesity in young children.

Keywords: childhood obesity; dietary behavior; early childhood; nutrition education; prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Intervention procedures following as the study protocol. 1 0 week (baseline): anthropometric measurement (n = 679), self-reported demographic and NQ questionnaires (n = 534), 2 10 week (follow-up): anthropometric measurement (n = 612), self-reported demographic and NQ questionnaires (n = 534). This study was approved by the institutional review board of The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCEIRB-2016-03).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the nutrition quotient (NQ) grade of the preschoolers participating in the Mission X program according to their group. 2 IG: Intervention group, CG: control group. ***: p < 0.001 by McNemar test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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