Nutrition Education for Children in Low-Income Households
By: Alexa Brand
Background
Lower household income has been consistently
associated with poorer diet quality.1 Research
has consistently shown that there are disparities
in nutrition knowledge between different income
groups, resulting in lower income people having
the lowest nutrition knowledge.2 Children who
grow up living in poverty are exposed to less
nutrition education, cooking skills, access to
food, and are influenced by their family’s eating
patterns. Food-insecure and low-income people
can be especially vulnerable to poor nutrition
and obesity, due to additional risk factors
associated with inadequate household
resources as well as under-resourced
communities.3 The needs of this specific
population tend to be overlooked. Using
educational interventions to address the
disadvantages children from low-income
families face in regards to knowledge about diet
is very valuable.
Problem/Purpose
The purpose of this outcomes study is to
determine the effectiveness of the nutrition
education class series designed for the children
at Perspectives, a non-profit organization
located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. This
organization serves a population of single
mothers and their children facing social issues
such as poverty, homelessness, trauma,
addiction, racial disparities, and food insecurity.
Perspectives provides families with housing,
various health services, food, and child care.4
The classes are interactive and supply the
children with resources to take home. The
objective is to evaluate the difference in
knowledge and understanding of concepts
before and after the children participate in this
program.
Methods
A pre-test and post-test of 14 questions was
created regarding information from each of the
four educational presentations in the series of
classes. These lessons covered general
nutrition topics including sodium content of
foods, macronutrients, types of sugars,
healthy food swaps, and the nutritional value
of vegetables. The pre-test was distributed to
all members of the study to complete before
the first class took place. The participants
were instructed to answer every question,
even if they were unsure and needed to make
a guess. The tests were collected once they
were filled out fully. After the fourth and final
class, the post-tests with the same questions
were distributed to the participants. The tests
were once again collected once participants
filled them out fully. The tests were graded out
of 14 points and results of the pre and post-
test were then compared in order to analyze
the scores.
Data Analysis
Results
The percent change is the difference between
participant scores in the pre- and post-tests.
Seen in the chart above, there is a range in
percent change from 83-450% among the 6
participants. The average for percent change is
178%. This shows a significant increase in test
scores from before to after the educational
classes. This data proves that nutrition education
had a significantly positive effect on overall
knowledge among children from low-income
households at Perspectives.
Each participant’s pre- and post-tests
were graded and scored out of 15, and
the data was put into excel in order to
make a table comparing the test scores.
The percent change was calculated by
subtracting the pre-test score from the
post-test score, dividing by the pre-test
score, and multiplying this by 100. The
value of percent change is used to
convey the magnitude of change
between the participants’ knowledge
before and after the education courses.
Discussion/Conclusion
The outcome of this study shows that providing
nutrition education to children from low-income
families has a positive effect on overall
knowledge and understanding of concepts being
taught. Each of the participants had an increase
in their score on the post-test. The calculated
average change of 178% from before and after
the nutrition education classes displays an
increase in the participant’s knowledge. There
were a few limitations of this study that could
have had an impact on the end results. One
limitation to consider was that during the pre-test
some of the participants were stating their
answers out loud to the rest of the class. This
only happened with a few questions, but it
interferes with each participants own knowledge
being reflected in their grade. Another limitation
was the small study size. The smaller study
group resulted in less outcome data being
collected on the impact this program has on the
target population. I think more research could be
done in the future to evaluate long term benefits
of nutrition education for children that come from
low-income households. It would be useful to
look at positive behavioral changes observed in
children after an educational intervention.
References
1. French, S.A., Tangney, C.C., Crane, M.M. et al. Nutrition quality
of food purchases varies by household income: the SHOPPER
study. BMC Public Health 19, 231 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6546-2
2. Xu Y, Zhu S, Zhang T, et al. Explaining Income-Related
Inequalities in Dietary Knowledge: Evidence from the China
Health and Nutrition Survey. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(2):532.
doi:10.3390/ijerph17020532
3. Grafton, H. H., & Dean, O. Hunger & Health: The Impact of
Poverty, Food insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-
Being. Food Research & Action Center.
4. Perspectives I. Perspectives, Inc. Perspectives, Inc. Published
March 22, 2018. https://www.perspectives-family.org/