The impact of an internet-health campaign upon health and nutrition awareness in Maltese children in a year 1 class

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the children’s knowledge and awareness about health and nutrition in relation to ‘Fonzu l-Fenek’, an internet health campaign made up of recipes, songs and dances. The campaign promotes eating fruit and vegetables and healthy food such as dairy products. Nineteen five to six year old children in a local state school were chosen to participate. They were observed during break time to review the lunches they bring to school, prior to and after the campaign. Interviews were conducted before children were introduced to the campaign. They were asked about their school lunches. They were then exposed to the health campaign and asked to give their perception of the campaign in a second interview. It was investigated how this campaign impacted the children’s choice in food, especially in their school lunches during the second set of observations. Furthermore, an interview was carried out before and after the campaign, with the class teacher. She was asked about the children’s health awareness in their lunches. After the campaign she was asked whether she thought the campaign impacted the students’ health awareness. The results show that the majority of the children were generally health aware prior to the health campaign, due to the various health lessons and activities at school. This was shown when children spoke about the importance of eating healthy food. The participants showed that they enjoyed the health campaign’s videos and recipes. This proves that when health campaigns are designed for children and are appealing, children show interest and participate.