Education on healthy eating improved nutrition-related practices in polish preschools

Background
Improving the nutritional knowledge of the preschool staff responsible for nutrition can translate into better quality menus served to children. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a nutrition education program in participating preschools. As criteria for evaluation of the program, changes in selected nutritional practices reported by the institutions’ staff as well as their opinion on the program were analyzed.

Material and methods
The research consisted primarily of a survey, performed in 2015 and repeated in 2016 in randomly selected preschools participating in the program “Eating healthy, growing healthy” in Poland. In 2015, 66 institutions were included in the survey, and in 2016, 138 preschools were included. In both, the CATI method was used for data collection, and data were collected by specially trained interviewers. Respondents were asked about selected nutrition-related practices in the institution (e.g. usage of salt/sugar, water availability, meal presentation). They also evaluated the suitability of the program for diet planning in the preschool setting.

Results
Preschool managers evaluated the project very highly in terms of value and usefulness of the content in their daily practice. The program has brought results in changing nutrition practices: salt and sugar in the children’s meals were reduced, water availability was increased, and menus were adapted to current nutritional recommendations. The high evaluation of the program increased the reported interest in participating in similar programs in the future, however, it did not translate into a greater willingness to include paid “healthy eating” workshops in the institutions.

Conclusions
Nutrition education improved the quality of nutrition in preschools, but in order to reach a wide range of institutions, it is necessary to focus on the implementation of free-ofcharge educational programs.