Spanish Federation of Nutrition

Edugastro is a digital tool that includes PANGEI and PANGEP Program, consists of 10 chapters related to food, nutrition, and gastronomy for Infantile and primary Education and requires the acquisition of habits and attitudes related to integral health and wellbeing through nutrition education. Also included the Transversal and complementary contents for the Food, Nutrition and Gastronomy Programmes for Infant and Primary School Education assemble in four units and reinforce common targets in both education periods.

This methodology is based, firstly, on participation. In other words, action is sought from people who are close to the child: educators, schoolmates and the family (both in the classroom and at home). Especially when it comes to mealtimes, children learn socially, watching and interacting with others around them. During this interaction the teachers play one of the key parts. This is why material has been created to help these teachers put into practice the objectives pursued in each Didactic Unit.

Firstly, webinars have been carried out in order to empower the population by acquiring knowledge on healthy eating, nutrition and sustainability. In addition, in this webinars we have trained the participants in the nutritional education program of EDUGASTRO - It’s my pleasure. The webinars discussed the bases of healthy eating, the main problems that we can find in the current diet (abandonment of the Mediterranean diet, change in eating habits, main diseases related to overweight and obesity...) and the importance of acquiring a good nutritional education in the early stages of life, to achieve this last point we have talked about the EDUGASTRO - It’s my pleasure program, whose main objective is to acquire healthy eating habits from an early age to ensure a better quality of life, in the years thereafter and in adulthood. The program comprises updated innovative material, with a gastronomic approach that will improve the food culture of our country, from young children. This program has materials in Spanish and English that are supported by games, taste workshop videos, and stories that also encourage physical activity, thus promoting another much-needed healthy habit at this stage of childhood.

Secondly, taste workshops have been carried out with activities focused on primary school students, whose main objective has been the acquisition of knowledge about the benefits of consuming fruit throughout the day and especially at breakfast in order to achieve a complete and healthy breakfast. Other aspects covered have been the education of taste and the preparation of healthy, tasty and funny Christmas menus with plasticine.

Learning and knowledge gathered: the adults have learned about the bases of healthy and sustainable eating, current problems in eating patterns, use and management of the EDUGASTRO - It’s my pleasure program. The students get familiar with fruits, knowing their benefits, their different forms of consumption, their smell, their texture... They also have learned to work as a team preparing tasty, healthy and funny recipes.

Results: the nutritional education program has been delivered in 20 schools throughout Spain. In the event delivered by FEN, a total of 190 children participated. As shown in the table below, the results achieved in the EduGastro activities exceeded the ones initially stipulated.