Background
Cancer Council Western Australia is funded by Healthway to deliver a free parent nutrition education program called Packed with Goodness (PwG) in Western Australia (WA). These sessions are evaluated with ethics approved pre, post and follow up surveys. This study analysed data from pre-session surveys to identify trends in attitudes and behaviours amongst our target audience prior to receiving education.
Method
The data and subsequent analysis was drawn from pre-session surveys completed by participants prior to commencing a PwG workshop. The sample group consists of West Australian parents or adults who voluntarily attended a workshop from October 2019 to May 2024. Data was collected via online survey which participants completed on their phone. Data was coded, cleaned and analysed using SPSS.
Results and discussion
During the study period 1,290 participants completed the survey, with 92 per cent of those identifying as female. Results showed a significant association (p <0.001) between parents who rated their confidence as ‘high’ when packing a healthy lunchbox and the number of serves of vegetables their children ate daily. In the Packed with Goodness Evaluation Report (2021), participants’ self-reported confidence to pack a healthy lunchbox increased markedly from pre-session to post-session. Therefore, it can be suggested that continued focus on building confidence in parents around provision of healthy food could positively improve vegetable consumption amongst their children. Further results and trends within data around the relationship between attitudes and behaviours and children’s lunchboxes will be discussed in the presentation.