Consuming 'sweets' : trends and influences among Maltese primary school children

Abstract

The main purpose of this research was to explore Maltese children's perception of 'sweets', find out their actual consumption, and discover any influences which affect their choices and behaviours. A questionnaire was developed and distributed among a representative sample of Year 5 and Year 6 children. Results indicated that Maltese children like to consume a variety of 'sweets' throughout the whole day including non-sweet tasting items. Their favourite type of 'sweet' was chocolate, followed by packets of salty snacks and ice-creams. Follow-up focus group interviews were conducted with children of the same age group. The findings confirmed that children tend to relate certain food items with 'sweets', even though these do not have a sweet taste. The two main reasons for this association were children's perception of these food items as having a very good taste, as well as parents' misconception of the term 'sweets'. Results also showed that several factors influenced children's 'sweet' choice and consumption, these being mainly taste, colour, ingredients, handling ease, role modelling by family members and social perception regarding nutritional value. Based on the various results of this study, a nutrition lesson and original resources were developed and implemented with Year 5 and Year 6 classes. Feedback from both teachers and children was very positive and brought out the effectiveness of grounded nutrition education. Overall, this study suggests the need for courses for teachers and student-teachers to implement nutrition education cross-curricularly, and other courses for parents on how to be role models for their children regarding healthy eating habits. Furthermore, the recruitment of additional peripatetic nutrition educators would help to support Primary teachers with lessons and resources on this subject.