During primary school education students at various mandatory and optional courses taught nutrition theoretical knowledge and practical work. Integrating nutrition content in the curriculum of formal education of children and adolescents improve their nutritional knowledge. Nutritional skills require the use of consumer knowledge and practical capabilities which includes the use of planning, shopping, preparation, cooking and eating. Appropriate level of the lessons of nutrition skills in elementary school is important because it helps to improve the nutritional knowledge and the creation of an individual's eating habits, which in turn lead to a healthier lifestyle.
The purpose of the thesis was to find out at what level primary school students acquire nutritional knowledge which is a part of nutritional skills at the end of primary education in relation to the intended objectives of nutrition education. We have also wanted to determine how often the students practice nutritional skills at home.
The sample consisted of 120 students of four elementary schools. The process of data collection was conducted by anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed as an online survey. It contains open questions, closed and multiple choice. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical program (StatisticalPackagefor Social Sciences). Results are shown in graphs and tables.
The results of the empirical part are showing that the vast majority of students acquire the appropriate level of nutritional skills and knowledge during elementary school education. Based on the intended objectives of formal education. Students learn how to read food labels which contains a variety of information including serving size, number of calories, grams of fat and sugar, included nutrients, and a list of ingredients, however they do not practice it. They learned how to use most of the household utensils, appliances and food preparation methods, but they are rarely used and implemented. The majority of primary school students believe that they have learned how to cook from their moms.
The research results show that formal education is effective, but the problem appears to be in the practical implementation of nutrition skills in the home environment. Also the students are not confident enough in their own cooking ability. It would need a greater focus on the implementation of nutritional skills, both at school and at home, so that the students gain confidence in the implementation thereof.
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