Nutrition Messages in Language Arts and Mathematics Textbooks Used in English Elementary Schools in Montreal

Baron, Vita, Journal of School Health

Proper nutrition plays an important role in the physical and mental development of individuals. Because physical and mental health are prerequisites for success in school, and because school is where children spend a good portion of their waking hours, schools have an obligation to teach children how to make appropriate food choices. Students must be taught to analyze and evaluate the wide range of food and nutrition messages they receive at home and in popular culture. Nutrition not only must be taught, but proper nutritional practices must be reinforced. Textbooks used in academic subjects should reinforce concepts of proper nutrition and encourage positive dietary habits. This analysis determined what nutrition messages are given in elementary school textbooks used for language arts and mathematics in English elementary schools in the greater Montreal area.

BACKGROUND

According to Gilbert et al, (1) more nutrition-related diseases are associated with dietary excesses and imbalance than with dietary deficiencies. Weiss and Kein (2) and Toulatos et al (3) sought to correlate nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior. Results indicated older children, age 10-13, knew more about nutrition than younger children but had less adequate diets. A negative relationship seemed to exist between nutrition knowledge and dietary quality.

Contento (4) contended nutrition education is unsuccessful because the developmental level of students has not been considered. Children ages seven-eight cannot make the connection between food they eat and what it does to their bodies. Older elementary children have difficulty understanding abstract terms such as nutrients and vitamins. Contento suggested nutrition education be based on concrete information and real-world experiences to help children distinguish which foods to eat and which to avoid.

Children receive much information, and misinformation, about diet and nutrition from television, children's literature, family, friends, advertisements, and school textbooks. While concern has been expressed about messages in television and advertisements, little attention has been paid to subtle nutrition messages, both supportive and counter supportive of proper nutrition in stories, illustrations, and examples used in textbooks.

Textbooks represent the most important resource used …

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Publication information: Article title: Nutrition Messages in Language Arts and Mathematics Textbooks Used in English Elementary Schools in Montreal. Contributors: Baron, Vita - Author. Journal title: Journal of School Health. Volume: 60. Issue: 9 Publication date: November 1990. Page number: 452+. © 1999 American School Health Association. COPYRIGHT 1990 Gale Group.

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