A school-based food and nutrition education intervention increases nutrition-related knowledge and fruit consumption among primary school children in northern Ghana

Abstract Background Providing children with the opportunity to learn about nutrition is critical in helping them establish a healthy lifestyle and eating behaviours that would remain with them till adulthood. We determined the effect of a school-based food and nutrition education (SFNE) intervention on the nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, dietary habits, physical activity levels and the anthropometric indices (BMI-for-age z scores, %Body fat and waist circumference) of school-age children in northern Ghana. Methods Following a controlled before-and-after study design, we recruited school-age children in primary 4 and 5 from public and private schools and assigned them non-randomly to intervention and control groups (4 schools total). A SFNE intervention called ‘Eat Healthy, Grow Healthy (EHGH)’ was implemented in intervention schools. Components of the intervention included children, teachers, school officials, and the school environment. Nutrition education didactic sessions, active discussions, nutrition games, charades, art work, and physical activity sessions were among the teaching and learning activities implemented. At 0 and 6 months, primary (anthropometry) and secondary (fruit, vegetable, and breakfast consumption) outcomes were obtained. Results Mean BMI-for-age z-scores did not differ significantly between intervention and control groups (F 1,261 = 0.45, P = 0.503, η 2 = 0.01). However, significantly greater nutrition-related knowledge scores were recorded in the intervention group than in the control group at post-intervention (M = 6.07 SD = 2.17 vs. M = 5.22 SD = 1.92; p = 0.002). Mean number of days intervention children consumed fruits differed across time (F 1, 263 = 33.04, p = 0.002, η 2 = 0.04) but not between the control and intervention groups (F 1, 263 = 0.28, p = 0.60, η 2 = 0.00). Conclusions The EHGH intervention had positive effects on the nutrition-related knowledge and the consumption of fruits among children although it did not impact their anthropometric indices.