León, Gto., June 28, 2016.- With the intention to evaluate the process, adaptation feasibility and the implementation of a nutrition plan, there was a research project with children from elementary, titled: "The implementation of a curriculum of Education in nutrition complemented with orchards, for children in elementary in Mexico: A study of viability."
The project was done by the University of California, Davis (UCD) in collaboration with the University of Guanajuato, Campus León (UG). The main researcher is Dr. Jazmin Rodriguez-Jordan, and co-researcher Dr. Luz Elvia Vera Becerra, from the Department of Medicine and Nutrition at Campus León.
The main challenge is to increase the knowledge in nutrition and promote healthy nourishment patterns in childhood and in each one of their homes.
It is about a research protocol that not only teaches nutrition concepts, but also topics such as mathematics, natural science, and Spanish. Additionally, incorporates another tool to strengthen nutrition concepts within the classroom; such is the case of an in-school orchard.
To create it, they had the support of the Secretary of Education Guanajuato, Regional Delegation III. The elementary school where this activity occurred was in the school Leona Vicario, located in the area Buenos Aires in the city of Leon. The intervention lasted 18 weeks. After implementing lections inside the fourth grade classroom and the in-school orchard, the intervention concluded with the preparation of healthy snacks and the harvest that the toddlers planted at the beginning of the project.
Juan Pablo Guerrero Ramírez, a four-grader from the participant elementary school commented: "I liked participating a lot and learned that we must eat healthy, vegetables, I tell my parents to stop eating meat and eat more zucchini."
Throughout a year, they received the support from nineteen students from the Degree in Nutrition of the University of Guanajuato, Campus León, who actively participated with the support of Dr. Luz Elvia Vera Becerra, Coordinator of the educative program.
