Impact Story: Our First Food Funda Summer Camp

The results from our first ever Food Funda Summer Camp are out! And we are proud to share that the program led to both knowledge gain and behavior change among children. All parents reported adoption of positive eating habits by their kids. The program even impacted household-level decisions on shopping and cooking. And the best part is that the children loved the Summer Camp! But no time to rest, since we are back again with an improved version of the program based on the lessons learnt.

Introduction

We organized the Food Funda Summer Camp in May 2021. This was a 3-week online program for children, to empower them with the right knowledge and practices on food and nutrition. This program was designed and delivered by our team with support from Dt. Sonam, a nutritionist with more than 14 years of experience and a mother of an 8-year old, and organized in partnership with XFitKids, fitness coaching for kids by Coach Aditya.

The main objectives of the program were:

1. To improve knowledge on the basics of food and nutrition.

2. To enable children to plan balanced meals, covering various macronutrients and micronutrients.

3. To empower children to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy foods.

4. To induce behaviour change among children to start choosing healthy foods.

5. To enable children to prepare simple healthy food at home.

The program comprised of 6 workshops, consisting of knowledge sessions on nutrition, cooking classes, activities and quizzes. Along with these sessions, the program included weekly challenges, tools to monitor daily and weekly behaviour change, and constant interaction and support in-between the sessions. To keep the interaction levels high, the program involved a small batch of 11 children with age ranging from 7 to 14 years, out of which 10 successfully completed the program. The children were located in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Melbourne.

Impact

Here are some insights into the program outcomes:

Knowledge

Objective: Improving children's knowledge on the basics of food and nutrition was one of the key objectives of the program. The program also aimed to impart practical knowledge, by enabling children to plan balanced meals, covering various macro and micro nutrients; and to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy foods.

Program components: In order to achieve this objective, the program included knowledge sessions, activities and challenges. The cooking sessions were also designed to enable theoretical learning and practical application of healthy tips.

Impact measurement tools: In order to evaluate the achievement of this objective, we carried out a pre- and post-assessment for the program, quiz questions during each workshop session, and quizzes after every week. Further, there was formative assessment throughout the 3-week period, where children interacted with us by completing challenges or otherwise demonstrating the application of knowledge through photos and videos.

There was an improvement of 20% in the average test scores from pre-assessment to post-assessment. There was also improvement in the understanding of nutrition and practical implementation of the knowledge gained.

Results: The program showed positive change in the knowledge scores of children. There was an improvement of 20% in the average test score in the post-assessment (conducted after the end of the 3-week program) compared to that in pre-assessment (conducted before the program). The participation in the quizzes and formative assessment further showed knowledge gain and the ability to apply it practically.

In particular, children were able to identify the sources of different nutrients, and plan meals covering various macro- and micro-nutrients. They were also able to demonstrate inclusion of different colours on their plates and include diversity of food groups.

Further, they were able to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy foods, and demonstrate how they could include more healthy options in their meals.

Behaviour change

Objective: Apart from knowledge gain, one of the key objectives of the program was to induce behaviour change among children to start choosing healthy foods.

Program components: In order to achieve this objective, the program covered simple practical healthy tips throughout the workshops, cooking sessions, activities and challenges that incentivized and enabled shifts towards healthier eating habits. The program also introduced children to a tracking tool to enable them to monitor their behaviour change on their own.

Impact measurement tools: We assessed our progress on this objective through qualitative interactions with children and parents throughout the 3-week program, and by evaluating the progress of children on their tracking tool. In addition, the pre- and post-questionnaires for children and parents also gave us useful insights.

90% of the students and 100% of the parents reported positive change in food habits.

Results: Around 90% of the children themselves reported that they made changes to their food habits after the program. These changes related to improvement in meal times, inclusion of healthier food items, adding more colours to their plate, and reduction in junk food consumption.

Here are some responses from the children:

Further, the tracking tool designed to enable children to monitor their behaviour also showed progress. In particular, the water intake of children improved. Children also improved their dinner time and ensured to complete it before 9 PM.

100% of the parents agreed that the program has caused positive changes in

their children's food habits. These changes again related to including more healthy foods in their diet, becoming more conscious eaters, and being more interested in food preparation.

Below are some observations from parents on their children's eating habits before and after the program:

Cooking

Objective: The program also aimed to enable children to prepare simple healthy food at home. By enabling children to cook, the program aimed to establish a deeper c