MaestraNatura (MN) is a nutrition education program developed to both enhance awareness about the importance of healthy eating behaviour and skills on food and nutrition in primary school students. The level of knowledge about food and nutritional issues was assessed by a questionnaire administered to 256 students (9-10 years old) attending the last class of primary school and was compared with that of a control group of 98 students frequenting the same schools that received traditional nutrition education based on curricular science lessons and one frontal lesson conducted by an expert nutritionist. The results indicated that students in the MN program showed a higher percentage of correct responses to the questionnaire when compared with the control group (76 ± 15.4 vs. 59 ± 17.7; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the students attending the MN program were requested to organise a weekly menu before (T0) and when finished (T1) the MN program. The results evidenced an overall significant improvement in the score obtained at T1 with respect to those at T0 (p < 0.001), indicating a strong improvement in the ability to translate the theoretical concepts of nutrition guidelines in practice. In addition, the analysis revealed a gender gap between boys and girls, with boys showing a worse score at T0 that was ameliorated after the completion of the program (p < 0.001). Overall, MN program is effective in improving nutrition knowledge amongst 9-10-year-old students. Furthermore, students showed an increased ability to organise a weekly dietary plan after completing the MN program, a result which also bridged gender gaps. Thus, preventive nutrition education strategies specifically addressed to boys and girls, and involving both the school and family, are needed to make children aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and to correct inadequate eating habits.
Keywords: education; health lifestyles; nutrition; students.