CAN EDUCATION THROUGH POSTER IMPROVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF PRESCHOOLERS ABOUT HEALTHY LIFESTYLE? IHHP-HHPC

AbstractINTRODUCTION: Lifelong behavior and risk factors of chronic diseases extend from earlylife to adulthood. It seems that dietary habits and unhealthy food consumption, as well aspassive smoking play an important role in the development of such diseases. Multiplestudies have shown that healthy lifestyle education in preschool children improves theirknowledge, attitude and practice about healthy lifestyle. This study was conducted toevaluate the effect of lifestyle education with educational posters in daycare centers onpreschool children.METHODS: In an interventional study, ۲۵۰ preschool children were selected via ۲-stagerandom cluster sampling and taught tips on healthy lifestyle via educational posters. Theirknowledge on healthy lifestyle was assessed before and after (۱ week and ۳ months)education via a picture-questionnaire, and their practice and behavior were assessed beforeand after education via their favorite choice of snack in daycare centers. Collected datawere analyzed using SPSS۱۳ by paired t-test and Man Whitney test.RESULTS: The knowledge and practice scores of the studied subjects improvedsignificantly one week after intervention compared with baseline, and persisted until the thirdmonth after education.DISCUSSION: Healthy lifestyle education via poster for preschool children can significantlyimprove their knowledge and practice towards healthy lifestyle.Keywords • Healthy life style • Education • Preschool children