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Toying with Healthy Eating: Developing a Play-Based Nutrition Education Program by Meghan Lynch A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto ©Copyright by Meghan Lynch 2015 Toying with Healthy Eating: Developing a Play-Based Nutrition Education Program Meghan Lynch Doctor of Philosophy Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto 2015 Abstract Kindergarten-aged children are a key group for establishing lifelong healthy eating behaviours. However, current school-based nutrition education programs have reported little success in achieving this important goal. Though a number of different reasons account for programs’ limited success, I focused on creating a kindergarten nutrition education program rooted in theory that also considered the needs and preferences of the teachers who implement such programs in their classes. Consequently, the present thesis describes the process of developing a preliminary draft of a kindergarten play-based nutrition education program, Sociodramatic Nutrition Activities for Kindergartens (SNAK). With the overarching goal of developing SNAK, I drew upon traditional and innovative data in order to learn about play-based teaching and healthy eating in kindergartens through a two phase process: 1. Program Landscaping, where I analyzed provincial and territorial ministry of ii education healthy eating kindergarten curricula and conducted a netnography (comprised of analyzing kindergarten teachers’ social media discussions and interviewing a sample of kindergarten teachers). 2. Program Development, where I developed SNAK based upon findings derived from phase one. Analysis of the curricula, social media discussions, and teacher interviews revealed a myriad of factors that influence teachers when they implement play-based teaching and healthy eating in kindergarten classes. Findings both replicate and suggest new research questions for the nutrition and education literature. These findings also greatly benefited the development of SNAK. Future SNAK research includes further development and pilot testing to determine if kindergarten children (and teachers) can benefit from the program. Furthermore, I also describe how I combined traditional and innovative data and the insights obtained through netnography. Opportunities for developing programs and forming hypotheses can be found through examining the vast amount of teacher social media discussions, and I encourage other researchers to seek out innovative data. iii Acknowledgements It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to thank the many people who contributed to this thesis. I extend my sincerest appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Daniel Sellen, for providing both guidance throughout this process and freedom to pursue independent work. I would like to acknowledge my internal thesis committee members, Drs. Catherine Mah and Amy McPherson, and external members, Drs. Donna Matheson, Ann Fox, and Anthony Hanley, for their time and efforts into ensuring my thesis was an enriching and valuable experience. Though she was not a member of my committee, I would also like to thank Dr. Audrey Giles for providing additional mentorship throughout my graduate degrees. I am grateful to have received support for this degree in the form of a Vanier Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and a University of Toronto Open Fellowship. Many thanks as well to all the anonymous journal reviewers and editors for sharing their expertise and significantly improving all of my articles. This research would not have been possible without the generosity of all the teachers who contributed to this study, through interviews, social media discussions, or informal conversations. I would also like to express many thanks to my friends, especially my fellow graduate students from the Universities of Toronto and Ottawa, who have left me with countless laughter-filled memories of graduate life. Last of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supportive family. I am especially grateful to both my Mom and my partner, Trevor, for their love and support. I also cannot overstate the influential role of my Dad, for the immeasurable amount of time, advice, and encouragement he has put into helping me become a better writer; I think I have finally learned how to stop writing in the passive voice. To them I dedicate this thesis. iv
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