A Piaget-Based Nutrition Education Intervention in Preschool Children

This study examined whether a nutrition education program based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development could improve preschool children's eating habits and food choices. Children attending preschools connected to the Provincial Directorate of National Education, along with their mothers, took part in the study. Some children received six sessions of nutrition education designed according to how young children think and learn (Piaget's theory), while other children did not receive this education and served as a comparison group. Before and after the program, researchers measured children's food consumption, nutrition-related behaviors, and eating behaviors using questionnaires completed by mothers. After the program ended, researchers also talked with a smaller group of mothers in more detail to better understand their experiences and observations. The results showed that children who received the nutrition education improved their food consumption and nutrition-related behaviors. However, the program did not appear to change children's general eating behaviors, such as picky eating or appetite. Mothers' descriptions of their children's experiences helped explain these findings in more depth. These results suggest that nutrition education based on how young children think and learn can help improve what children eat, but changing broader eating behaviors may require additional strategies that also address psychological, cultural, and social factors.

The sample of the study consists of preschool children and their mothers. Inclusion criteria for the sample: * Mothers of children aged 3-6 attending kindergartens affiliated with the Provincial Directorate of National Education * Mothers whose children do not have any health problems affecting their nutritional status * Mothers aged 18 and above * Mothers who are at least literate. The exclusion criteria for the study are as follows: * Children with hearing and speech problems, * Children who do not understand or speak Turkish, * Children with any illness or learning difficulties, * Those who participate for a maximum of 2 weeks during the six-week nutrition training.