The Effect of Digital Stories about Healthy Eating on Health Behaviors of Primary School Children

Abstract

In this study, the effects of digital stories about healthy eating developed for primary school 2nd-grade students on health perception, nutritional behavior, nutritional self-efficacy, and nutrition attitude were investigated. The study, in which the quasi-experimental design with the pre-test and post-test control group was used, was carried out with 90 students studying at a public school in Istanbul. In the control group, the primary school life science textbook was used in accordance with the program. In the experimental group of the research, the teaching of healthy and balanced eating was carried out through digital storytelling for 5 weeks. Children's Dietary Self- Efficacy Scale, Health Perception Form, Food Behavior Scale, and Nutrition Attitude Scale were used in the study. The obtained data were subjected to parametric analysis. At the end of the study, it was observed that there was a positive change in the health perception, nutritional behavior, nutritional self-efficacy, and nutrition attitudes of the students in the experimental group. On the other hand, it was observed that the nutritional self-efficacy and nutritional behavior scores of the control group students increased in the post-tests. The results obtained were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions were presented to determine the effect of digital storytelling.