The Influence of Food Stories on the Food Preference Among Kindergarten Children - a Case of Mvita Sub-county

Abstract

Due to the increasingly prevalent diets in modern society such as foods high in sugar, high in fat, and ultra-processed food, (junk food) posing threats to human health, biodiversity, and the climate, there is an urgent need to shift towards more plant-based diets. The unbridled obesity epidemic demonstrates that traditional efforts towards diet change are insufficient and regulations focusing mainly on restrictions of unhealthy food are of limited success at best. This research study aimed to explore the impact of food stories on the food preferences and habits of kindergarten children in the Mvita sub-county. The objectives of this study were; to investigate the association between food story exposure and food preferences among kindergarten children, to investigate the feasibility of utilizing positive food narratives as an instructional tool to promote healthy eating habits among kindergarten children and to assess the frequency of consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods among kindergarten children in Mvita sub-county, Kenya. The study was conducted by exposing a sample group of kindergarten children to various food stories and observing any changes in their food preferences and consumption behaviors. The data collected was analyzed to determine the extent to which food stories influenced food preferences and habits among this age group. This study used an experimental research design. Data was collected through observation and recording of food choices by the children. Simple random sampling was used to get a representative population from the children. Correlation analysis was carried out using statistical software to help conclude the data gathered on the relationship between the two variables. The findings of this study provided valuable insights into the role of food stories in shaping the food habits and attitudes of young children and will contribute to the development of effective strategies for promoting healthy eating among this population. This research has implications for parents, educators, and policymakers concerned with promoting healthy food habits among young children. The findings indicated during the first five days of setting the baseline in the experimental group, the mean ranged from as low as 0.00 to as high as 10.00. Contrary to the control group, for the first five days, the mean ranged from 3.00-10.00 across the days, which is high based on the no intervention or story relayed on the choice of foods to the target population. In the findings of days 6-15, in the experimental group, the choice of unhealthy food was reduced to a mean range of 1.00-6.00. The results in the control group also had a similar effect in terms of reduction of the mean to a range of between 0.00-9.00. The skewness for choice of healthy diets for days 1-5 was positive. The distribution changes between days 6-10 to have values between -0.5 and 0.5, which in this case are considered to have a symmetric distribution, and the choice of healthy foods from days 11-15 is considered to have values less than -0.5, which in this case consider the distribution to be negatively skewed. The findings for the kurtosis analysis for unhealthy food choices had a consistent figure of less than -1.0. The kurtosis on healthy foods was majorly ranging between 0 and 1 which indicated a normal or mesokurtic distribution starting from day 1- day five. The Kurtosis of days 6-14 had a range of -1 to 0 which was a platykurtic distribution. The study findings based on the experimental group in weeks one, two, and three were significant at p=0.001845, p=0.0002783, and p=0.01223 respectively. Food stories, according to the findings, have a positive influence on food preference. The findings demonstrated that food stories had a direct positive effect on food preference among kindergarten children in Mvita Sub-County, as demonstrated by findings from week one to week three of the study. The study therefore recommends to educators, parents, and policymakers that kindergartens should incorporate food stories into their curriculum and support nutrition education programs by allocating resources and sufficient funding