The Influence of Flashcard and Video on the Knowledge of

Pre-school Children Towards Consuming Vegetables and Fruits

Chairani Dalimunthe1* Kintoko Rochadi1 Jumirah Jumirah2

1
Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Public Health, Unversitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
2
Department of Public Health Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
*chairanidalimunthe1980 @gmail.com

Kata Kunci: Flashcard, video, knowledge, vegetables and fruit, pre-school

Abstrak: Giving vegetables and fruit to early children will support fulfillment and balanced the nutrition for children
development optimization. This habit will also form a healthy eating which will continue into adulthood.
From the initial survey there were 69% of children do not like fruits and vegetables. The research purpose
was to know the effectiveness of flashcard and video to increase the knowledge of pre-school children about
vegetables and fruits. The design research was quasi experiment with pretest – post test group. This study
was conducted in Ibunda and Almanar Early Childhood Education Program in Medan City, Indonesia. The
sample of research was 36 children. Data was analyzed with test pair T-test to know the effect of flashcard
and video before and after treatment. The results showed that there was influence of flashcard and video to
increase the knowledge (p=0.001). It is recommended to school to use flashcard and video to increase the
knowledge of pre-school children, and encourage parents to accustom their children consuming vegetables
and fruit at home.

1 INTRODUCTION vegetables and fruits in Indonesian society is still

The government through the Ministry of Health of
the Republic of Indonesia seeks to improve the
quality of health degrees in Indonesia, one of them
through GERMAS (Healthy Living Society
Movement).There are 3 main pillars of Germas and
one of them eats fruit and vegetables. The problem
of consuming vegetables and fruit is not only
happening in Indonesia, but also in other countries.
As in America, only 31.5% of school children who
consume less fruit and 80.3% who consume less
vegetables (Kerbs, 2010 in Harnack et al, 2012).
Similarly, in Canada, only 20.9% of schoolchildren
lack vegetable and fruit from Pabayo, Spence, Casey
and Store research (2012). In Indonesia, consume
vegetables and fruit is still low. Riskesdas Data in
2007 and 2013 is seen that the population is ≥ 10
years only about 5.1 and 5.3 that meet the standards
of WHO consume vegetables and fruit. While
Riskesdas in 2018, the population aged 5-9 years
only 3.1 meet the standards of vegetable and fruit
consumption. This is very unfortunate considering
that Indonesia is a tropical country that is rich in
vegetables and fruit, but the consumption of
relatively low compared to other countries that do
not have the resources to produce fruit and
vegetables (Astawan in Putri, 2016).
The World Health Organization (WHO) also
recommends children under five and school-age
children to consume vegetables and fruits as much
as 300-400 grams per day. Related research was
proposed by Melati and Enik (2010) that 93.6% of
pre-school children in Semarang have less than
73.5% of vegetables per day, and 100% of children
consume less fruit. Another study conducted by
Gunanti (2000) that schoolchildren consume less
vegetable than the average.
Vegetables and fruits are the biggest enemies for
children. Lots of parents who have difficulty in
giving vegetables and fruit to their children.
Thoughpreschool is a period where children are
growing.Introducing fruits and vegetables to
children at an early age is very important sothey are
accustomed to consume vegetables and fruit because
will carry on until adulthood. But if not, it will be
difficult for children to recognize the importance of
vegetables and fruit well. Early childhood education
is very important, considering that early childhood is
a "golden age", which is the most decisive period in human development.
Because 50% of the variability of intelligence in the brain and nerves already occurs when a child is 5 years
old, 30% next at the age of 8 years and the remaining 20% when the age of the child reaches around 18 years
old. Often parents force their children to eat vegetables and fruit by being scolded, but this method is not
suitable, because if a child is forced to eat vegetables or fruit, one day the child will hate vegetables and fruit
because the child thinks he or she is being scolded for vegetables or fruits so that the child is getting away.
Therefore parents should act as models in eating food, not just eating, but displaying pleasure when eating in
front of children. So without being forced, children will be eager to eat these foods.According to Karyadi
(1993), eating habits are one of the important factors that influence children in consuming vegetables and fruits.
The formation of eating habits at an early age is very important for the development of eating habits later in
adulthood.
Preschoolers have a changing nature in eating food, they tend to choose food without knowing what it feels
like. According to Tuti Soenardi (2006) rejecting food is the child's first way to flex muscles and express free
will.The attitude of refusal to eat becomes a problem, but a mother does not need to rush to respond as a
problem if the right way to deal with it has not been sought. Vegetables provide many health benefits if
consumed regularly. But not all children have the awareness to consume it. Another finding is that children
know and like food consumed according to what they usually eat (Drake, SC 2013)
Benefits of vegetables and fruits can provide benefits for health (1) Vegetables and fruits are rich in
minerals and vitamins, minerals and other nutrients needed by the body. Examples of nutrients contained in
vegetables and fruits are vitamin C, Vitamin A, potassium, Folate.If consumption of fruit and vegetables is low
then there are nutritional needs that are not met. (2) Vegetables and fruit contain active enzymes that can
accelerate chemical reactions in the body. Nutritional components and non-nutritious active components
contained in vegetables and fruits function as anti-oxidants and neutralize free radicals, anti-cancer and inhibit
cholesterol buildup in the body. In vegetables and fruits there is also a fiber content the beneficial for digestive
health and intestinal microflora, ie soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber improves intestinal
performance so that the number of bacteria that are beneficial to the body can grow properly while insoluble
fiber inhibits the growth of bacteria that harm the body.Some studies have shown that adequate consumption of
fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of some chronic diseases. The results of He et.al (2007) showed that
increased consumption of fruits and vegetables that were previously less than 3 portions into more than 5
servings a day with regard to a decrease of 17% the risk of coronary heart disease.It is in accordance with the
proposed by Dauchet et.al (2005), the risk of stroke decreased by 11% for each additional portion of the fruit
per day.
Children's knowledge about the importance of vegetables and fruit is very important because it has an
impact on attitudes and behaviors in consuming them.Therefore, it is necessary for us to know the habits of the
children from an early age so we can anticipate them.

2 METHOD
This type of research was aquasi experimental with pre-post group design. This study used two groups, the first
group using flashcard on PAUD Ibunda and video on PAUD Al-Manar. Research samples amounted to 36
children.The study was conducted in August-September.This research aims to see the effectiveness between the
flashcard and video to knowledge of preschool children in consuming vegetables and fruit.Data collection
method was done by asking directly to the child with a questionnaire that contains a picture of vegetables and
fruit. Data analysis was conducted with test pair T-test.
3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Children's knowledge of vegetables and fruits in the group of flashcards and videos before and after treatment
can be seen in the following table :

Table 1: Age distribution of preschoolchildren

No Age Amount %
.
1 4 years 7 19
2 5 years 13 36
3 6 years 16 45
Total 36 100.0
Based on Table 1 shows that 6-year-old children are at most 45%. This shows that the most 6-year-olds in
the kindergarten.Some research suggests that the level of eating difficulties often occur in pre-school age
children (Beautris, 2007). The knowledge of preschool children about vegetable and fruit is very low which is
caused by many factors. One of them is the young age between 4-5 years. In that age, knowledge has not been
perfectly developed. Children knowledge is formed through the process of mimicking and sensing. The more
they saw, heard, and flavored the learning process would quickly be received. In accordance with the theory,
that age is one of the things affects the knowledge.

Table 2: Male and female frequency distribution

No Gender Amount %
.
1 Male 17 47
2 Female 19 53
Total 36 100.0
Based on Table 2 show that the distribution of female is 53%. This shows that the kindergarten students
have more girls. According to Kristjans dottir et al (2006) and Rojas (2001) gender affects the consumption of
vegetable and fruit.

Table 3:Distribution of knowledge flashcard groups

Flashcard
Knowledge Before After
n % n %
Good 0 0 8 40
Middle 14 70 12 60
Low 6 30 0 0
Total 20 100 20 100.0
Table 3 show there is an increase in knowledge, before being given treatment the good category is 14
children (70%) and the low categoryis six children but after being given the increased treatment into the
category of good 8 children, the middle category is 12 children, and no one child who is low category.

Table 4:Distribution of knowledge in video groups

Video
Knowledge Before After
n % n %
Good 0 0 11 68.8
Middle 14 87.5 5 31.2
Low 2 12.5 0 0
 Total 16 100 16 100.0
Table 4 shows there is an increase in knowledge after being given treatment using video, previously no one
have a good category, after being given treatment the good category to 11 children (68.8%),the middle category
change from 14 children (87.5%) reduce to five children (31.2%) and the low categoryis two children (12.5%)
become no more with low categories

Table 5: Influence of flashcard on fruit and vegetable knowledge

Flashcard
Knowledge
Pre-Test Post-Test
N 20 20
Mean 9.85 15.10
Standard Deviation 2.64 2.29
P 0.000
Table 5 shows that there is an increase in children’s knowledge after being given treatment using flashcards,
visible from the mean before the 9.85 treatment change to 15.10 with the standard deviation of 2.64 to 2.29.
From the results of paired T-test that there is a flashcard influence on the increase in the children's knowledge
in the consumption of fruit and vegetable with a 0.000 < 0.05, with the difference of post-pre 5.25.

Table6:Influence of video on fruit and vegetable knowledge

Video
Knowledge
Pre-Test Post-Test
N 16 16
Mean 10.00 16.88
Standard Deviation 2.45 1.82
P 0.000
Table 6 show that there is an increase in children’s knowledge after being given treatment using video, visible
from the mean before the 10.00 treatment changed to 16.88 with a standard deviation of 2.45 to 1.82. From the
results of the paired T-test is seen that there is a video influence on the increase in fruit and vegetable
knowledge with P 0,000 < 0.05, with the difference post-pre 6.88.
The mean difference betweenflashcard and video shows that the video's difference is higher. This
indicates that video is an easy-to-receive medium for the child to convey information. Counseling with video is
more interesting than flashcards because the condition of children who are currently growing in technology
culture. In addition, learning with video arouses the sense of vision, hearing, or conformity with student
learning levels. The more sensory tools are used the greater information we receive.This is in accordance with
the research of Bandura (1997) which says that we see the behavior displayed in the media, we will replicate
and eventually adopt such behavior. Similarly, Ikada (2010) states that interesting images can stimulate
children's capture power to receive messages. Related research is also presented by Fitriani (2011) stating that
the video is a media that can convey a fact or fictional message that can be informative, educational and
instructional. In addition, video is more effective because it can be carried everywhere and used repeatedly.

4. CONCLUSION
From the results can be concluded that there is an influence using the media flashcard and video to convey
information to improve children's knowledge about vegetables and fruits. Counseling with video is more
effective than flashcards because the video displays images and sounds that are appealing to the child.The
school should educate children about the types and benefits of vegetables and fruits using media that attracts
children's attention and interest. Hopefully, the school can use the media in particular video to convey the
message to children.In addition, school should give appeal to parents in order to prepare vegetables and fruits
to children so that knowledge gained in school can be applied to daily attitudes and actions. The behavior of
consuming vegetables and fruit will be formed if children is given an education as early as possible. The early
knowledge is implanted then the easier it is absorbed and acceptance of children is higher. Likewise, the school
as playground for children should be able to influence the change in the children behavior in consumption of
vegetables and fruit.

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