Prevention of Children Obesity: A Nutrition Education Intervention Model on Dietary Habits in Basic Schools in Chile

The objective of this study is to describe the process and results of a three-year project designed to create a nutrition education intervention model that promotes healthy dietary habits among teachers, students and their families. The methodology consisted in surveys, focus groups and Delphi method to assess teachers’, students’ and parents’ dietary habits, followed by an intervention for parents, and a participative nutritional education intervention with information and communication technologies applied to teachers, with the purpose to transfer nutritional knowledge and habits to school children and their families. Qualitative results were measured in all the phases of the project with positive results, and quantitative results demonstrated significant changes in food knowledge and healthy dietary habits in parents, teachers and students, compared with the control groups, without changes in students’ nutritional status during the short period of the intervention. With the results, an integral school nutrition education model in healthy eating was developed with children, parents, teachers and support for school management. This model should be applied in the educational sector to address the problem of unhealthy diet and childhood obesity that affects Chile and the world.