Raising awareness amongst children: “Amici per la Tavola”

Context

As most little Italian youngsters will tell you: “vegetable and fish…yuk!”
 

Just like anywhere else in Europe, the children of Naples and Milan tend to turn up their noses at vegetables. But perhaps a little bit of culture could help to change their minds. Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together for the theatre company “Amici per la tavola”.
 

Resources

Before the play the children are introduced to the issue of healthy eating and its basic notions: variety, quality and adapted quantity. With the help of a teaching aid, they learn about the different food groups in a fun way.

Then, the youngsters are invited to watch a show called “Pancia Piena, Pancia Vuota” (‘Full Stomach, Empty Stomach’) which stars two mad scientists experimenting to find the food of the future.

The two characters are opposite extremes and in turn they test their ideas of an overly rich diet and a restrictive tasteless diet. Luckily the nanny of the unfortunate guinea pig is watching over him. She teaches him the principles of a balanced diet and helps him to escape from the laboratory. The play is full of music and sketches which the children love.
 

Results

Tests were distributed to the youngsters before and after the operation. The results of the teaching drive concerning the children of Milan have been published and the conclusions are very interesting:

• 9 children in 10 had registered the importance of eating a little of everything in adapted quantities,
• 9 children in 10 showed that they had understood that a healthy and balanced meal should include all the food groups,
• 6 children in 10 had changed their minds about foods such as vegetables or fish that they previously described as ‘yuk’.

The results for Naples revealed the same trends. 
However there is a difference between these two cities, as the psychologist and pilot of the operation Nicoletta Travaini underlines. In Milan, the parents refer more to rules when creating a meal, which could lead to too much rigidity and repetition in the long term. The risk is to no longer take pleasure in eating.
 
On the other hand, in Naples, the children seem to be more instinctive in their relationship with food. The concern in this case is that the absence of rules could mean that they only eat what they want to (particularly fatty and sugary products).