The effect of nutrition education based on piaget's theory of cognitive development on food consumption, nutrition and eating behaviour in preschool children: A mixed method study

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nutrition education given to preschool children using Piaget's cognitive development theory on food consumption, nutritionbehavior, and the eating behavior of children. The research is a mixed-method study in which qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. In the first phase of the study, a quasi-experimental research design based on pre-test and post-test was used. The sample of the study consisted of 238 preschool children and their mothers in the experimental (n=127) and control (n=111) groups in kindergartens affiliated with Uşak Provincial Directorate of National Education. The experimental group received six sessions of nutrition education. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Information Form, Food Consumption Frequency Questionnaire (FFCQ), Nutrition Behaviour Scale (NBS), and Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test method, and Pearson-χ2 cross-tabulations were used to analyze the first stage data, and 'Spearman correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between two quantitative variables that did not have a normal distribution. In the second stage of the study, the focus group interview method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used, and the sample consisted of mothers (n=18) of children who received nutrition education using Piaget's cognitive development theory. The data of the mothers were collected using a semi-structured interview form, and the qualitative data were evaluated by content analysis method. In the quasi-experimental study, positive changes were observed in the consumption rates of milk, fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and meat groups in the experimental group compared to the control group after nutrition education. After the intervention, while there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test NBS scores of the control group, the post-test NBS scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than the pre-test. After the intervention, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of pre-test and post-test CBEQ scores of food responsiveness, emotional overeating, enjoyment of food1, desire to drink, satiety responsiveness, and fussiness. In the qualitative research, which is the second stage of the study, three themes were determined 'the effect of education on a child's food consumption', 'the effect of education on a child's feeding behavior' and 'the effect of education on child's eating behavior' after qualitative interviews with mothers after the training. As a result of the study, it was seen that nutrition education given to preschool children using Piaget's cognitive development theory positively affected children's food consumption and nutrition behavior but did not change eating behavior.