Integrating computer-based method into dietary intervention in children at Setiu Wetland: A pilot study

While computer-based interventions have been shown to effectively improve eating behaviours of children and adolescents in western countries,to our knowledge,studies exploring the effectiveness of such interventions are unreported in malaysian context. this paper presents the findings from a 3-week pilot study that evaluated an intervention designed specifically to change attitude,intention and dietary habits of schoolchildren in setiu,terengganu. the participants in this study were 51 (male n= 27,female n= 24) children,aged 10 years,from a primary school. the present pilot study is unique in combining the use of computer-based method along with powerpoint presentation,classroom discussion and hands-on group activities techniques. the intervention sessions took place in a school every thursday for three consecutive weeks. participants completed a baseline questionnaire (pre-test) about attitude,intention and dietary intake and were re-administered the questionnaire (post-test) after three months to assess the changes. following the intervention,results suggest that there was a significant change in attitude towards unhealthy food (p < .01). more importantly,a significant increase in vegetable intake (p < .001) and a decrease in fast food consumption (p < .05),soda drink consumption (p < .01) and sweet food intake (p < .01) were seen. the findings of this pilot study suggest that computer-based interventions may therefore,complement other intervention methods and have the potential to help practitioners tailor an effective intervention to address dietary problem in children. © penerbit umt.