Influence of the Nestlé Healthy Kids programme on the behaviour and knowledge of pupils and teachers in classes three, four, five and six in some public primary schools in Cameroon

Abstract

Nutrition is a science that analyzes the relationship between food and health. Nutritional wellbeing, involving a healthy diet and adequate physical activity, can help to prevent certain metabolic diseases such as obesity. Early childhood education on the risks of poor nutrition is an investment in a healthier population. With this in mind, the Nestlé Healthy Kids programme (NHK) provided educational textbooks on nutritional practices to teachers and students in some public primary schools in three regions of Cameroon: Littoral, Centre and Far North. The participating pupils were in classes three, four, five and six. Of the primary schools selected to take part, five schools benefited from educational textbooks and were labelled Healthy Kids (HK); five other schools, labelled non-Healthy Kids (nHK), did not benefit from textbooks and constituted the control group. Following a year-long nutritional education programme based on the NHK programme textbooks, pupils and teachers were assessed on their nutritional knowledge and eating habits. The results were compared with an assessment of pupils and teachers in nHK schools. The study concluded that, when compared with nHK students, students in HK schools had a better knowledge of good eating habits and followed healthier eating habits. No significant difference in knowledge between teachers of the two groups was reported, however, teachers in HK schools exhibited healthier eating habits than those in nHK schools. It is therefore concluded that the implementation of the NHK programme is very useful in the prevention of malnutrition.