M. D. R. LÓPEZ-GAMIÑO ET AL.
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useful. These interventions also contribute to make a significant
impact on the healthy food behaviors, first because they pro-
mote dietary changes, such as the increase of consumption of
fruits and vegetables; and secondly, they can also be used to
promote the identification of barriers to healthy behavior and
the alternatives to change it.
In this research, the differences in the preference and selec-
tion of non-instrumental situational programs in all grades, and
extrasituational particularly in fourth and sixth grades, suggest
a possible effect of the educational program, in terms of pref-
erence and selection of natural foods. These effects were ob-
served in the levels of complexity that require more skills re-
lated to the information that the construction of knowledge,
which could be related to the skill level that children would
have at the time of application and the level of skills required in
the activities of the programs.
It is evident that food education plays an important role in
the acquisition of healthy eating habits, and the modification
harmful ones. Shamah and Vázquez (1998) argue that for a
behavior to become a habit, it is necessary to repeat it very
often. From different theoretical perspectives in psychology,
repetition is a fundamental element: for Piaget (1987), experi-
ence is the result of the repeated action with objects. Such ex-
perience becomes a habit that is part of a repertoire that will
incorporate new actions which in turn will be the basis to face
new experiences. For Vygotsky (1979), the child becomes an
expert after performing an activity repeatedly, first with the
help of an adult and then by himself. From the behavioral per-
spective, the increase in the frequency of a behavior indicates
that there was some learning. This increase is mediated by the
reinforcement (Skinner, 1979). For Ribes (1990) interactive
styles are consistent ways of behaving functionally in certain
situations and these are shaped in the psychological develop-
ment process. When acting consistently, the individual is form-
ing his idiosyncratic interactive history, which is a critical fac-
tor for the modulation of their own health or disease.
The feeding behavior can be changed with the acquisition of
knowledge and the development of new attitudes, but mostly
through practice. Shamah and Vázquez (1998) add that the
school is an ideal setting for learning that can serve for the suc-
cessful application of health programs in general and nutritional
programs in particular. The favorable results, regarding the
preference and selection of natural foods which are observed in
some participants in this study, are an indicator of what can be
achieved with the work with schoolchildren, but we must take
into account the characteristics of the population to adjust pro-
grams and thus, to get better results.
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