The effects of dietary trainings given to parents on the diets of the children

In this study, it was aimed assess the various trainings about healthy diet given to parents on regular basis in terms of their effects on dietary knowledge of the parents, on the diets of the parents and the children who take their parents as model. The study was carried out in a preschool education institution located in Ankara Province, Yenimahalle Town, Batıkent District. 20 parents (12 mothers and 8 fathers) and 25 children were included in the study which was carried out between October 2014 and January 2015. The parents were trained for 3 three times (In October and December 2014 and in January 2015) in total and each training session lasted for approximately 60 minutes. The themes of the trainings were; healthy diet, healthy diet of the children, and frequently asked questions in nutrition. All trainings were performed interactively and were also supported with visual presentations. From the very first training, the parents were subjected to a basic dietary knowledge test before and after each training session. The parents were asked to fill in a survey form including information about the socio-demographic properties of their families, their dietary situations and the dietary habits of themselves and their children and they were also asked to state their bodyweight and height. After each session, the parents were instructed to log down the dietary behaviours of themselves andtheir children every 3 days (1 day will be Saturday or Sunday). The bodyweight andheight information of the children were collected from the school records. The teachers were instructed to log down the children's dietary behaviours at school. The three training sessions were compared in terms of the number of the correct answers given by the parents to the questions of the dietary knowledge test.All the assessments from the very first test to the final test were observed to be statistically significant concerning the mothers, the fathers and also the general total. The assessment of the effect of the three sessions on the BMI classification of the children showed that; whereas there were 3 thin children in the first training session in terms of the BMI, there were 2 thin children at the end of the third session. There were 10 children in normal standards in the first training session whereas at the end of the third session, there were 12 children in normal standards in terms of the BMI. There were 5 fat children in the first training session whereas at the end of the third session, there were 4 fat children in terms of the BMI. The comparison of the food consumption logs kept for the three sessions showed that; particularly protein, fibre, polyunsaturated fatty acid, C vitamini, calcium and iron consumption of the children increased significantly. It was observed that; while the iron intake of the children remained below the recommended values of the Turkish Dietary Guide at the first training session, after the 3rd session, iron intake of the children was above the recommended values and whereas their fibre intake increased at the end of the 3rd session, it was still below the recommendations. Considering the children's dietary behaviour changes observed in different food groups throughout the three training sessions; there was a statistically significant increase in milk and dairy product consumptions of the children (p=0.003). The decrease observed in cake, biscuit and suchlike consumptions of the children throughout the three training sessions were also statistically significant (p=0.000). When the male parents were compared in terms of the results of the trainings on their energy, carbohydrate, A vitamini and fructose (due to arising amount of fruit consumption) intake, a positive change was observed (p=0.030; p=0.472). The trainings affected the dietary behaviours of the male subjects morethan the female subjects. At the end of the three training sessions, white bread consumption of the parents decreased whereas vegetable and herbal tea consumption increased. These changes were also statistically significant (p=0.046; p=0.002). In conclusion; there were significant increases in the dietary knowledge levels of the parents following the dietary trainings given to them, the parents used these knowledge well for the diets of their children even though not sufficiently for their own diets and it is believed that; training the parents about the rules of a healthy diet would be important particularly for the ones who have children at early childhood stage.