The Importance of Sensory-Based Food Education in Childhood Education

As we know, the five basic senses such as touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight are important in helping us understand and perceive the world around us. All of these senses are especially important when we eat food as different shapes, textures, tastes, and smells allow us to identify a wide variety of foods. So, how can these interactions with food in childhood education help children make healthy and meaningful choices with food in the future?

As children grow and learn about the world around them, they heavily rely on these five senses to get acquainted with the world and explore the new things around them. Children tend to learn best in an inclusive environment, and where they can learn in the same environment as children of similar age. It is known that childhood eating habits play an important role in determining individual diets in adulthood. Food preferences can be influenced by personal choices, which is based on the sensory qualities of food. As children grow up, they build images of how acceptable foods look, taste, and smell like, which can lead to the rejection of certain foods if they were not introduced earlier. 

The addition of sensory-based food education has an association with children’s willingness to choose and eat more fruits and vegetables. It was found in a questionnaire that sensory lessons with foods have helped children try unfamiliar foods and the effects of education were particularly stronger in younger children. As a whole, it was found that sensory education has the potential to activate children to try new foods and increase variety in their diets. This association is also encouraged by parents who encourage explorative eating and include children in exploring the five senses as well. 

Over the years, more and more elementary schools have started to implement fruit and veggie programs, school gardens, and cooking/nutrition education into their curriculum with the help of government funding. This type of education helps children identify healthy food choices, foods from different cultures, different properties of food, and helps to show the connection with food to their daily life. This also promotes the fact that not only education of math and sciences are important, that healthy eating has an integral role in education as well.

As an application, when children have the basis of sensory nutrition education, they are able to make actionable choices to influence a healthy diet pattern overall. Once children are explorative with food and can learn to appreciate food's nutritional and enjoyment benefits, a base is formed for them to live a healthy lifestyle, promote health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and be food literate citizens.

References

Kähkönen, K., et al. (2018). Sensory-based food education in early childhood education and care, willingness to choose and eat fruit and vegetables, and the moderating role of maternal education and food neophobia. Public Health Nutrition, 21(13). Pp. 2443-2453. Retrieved from:  https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1017/S1368980018001106

Miles-Pearson, S. (2020). Exploring Food Education in the English Primary Curriculum. Food Education and Food Technology. Pp 9-30. Retrieved from: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39339-7_2

Sadegholvad, S., et al. (2017). What Should Be Taught in Secondary Schools’ Nutrition and Food Systems Education? Views from Prominent Food-Related Professionals in Australia. Nutrients. 9(11). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9111207

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