Peer-reviewed article
Experiential Learning Interventions and Healthy Eating Outcomes in Children: A Systematic Literature Review
Sumantla D. Varman, Dylan P. Cliff, Rachel A. Jones, Megan L. Hammersley, Zhiguang Zhang et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined 26 studies on how experiential learning activities—where children learn through direct hands-on experience—affect children's eating knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Cooking, gardening, games, and taste-testing were found to work well in primary schools, while sensory activities and creative arts worked better in preschools. The review found that involving parents and using intense, short interventions improved success, though most studies had quality concerns that may limit how broadly these findings apply.
Key points
- Cooking, taste-testing, games, role-playing, and gardening improved nutrition outcomes in primary school children
- For preschool children, sensory evaluation, games, creative arts, and storybooks were effective
- Multiple strategies involving parents were associated with better intervention success
- Short and intense intervention strategies were more useful than longer interventions
- Most studies were conducted in primary schools (19), with fewer in preschools (6) and outside-of-school settings (1)
Limitations
Most studies were in primary schools in high-income countries, limiting understanding of effectiveness in preschools and outside-of-school settings. Many included studies had high risk of bias, which weakens confidence in the overall findings.
Abstract
Experiential learning is the process where learners create meaning from direct experience. This systematic review aimed to examine the effects of experiential learning activities on dietary outcomes (knowledge, attitudes, behaviors) in children. Four databases: Education Research Complete, Scopus, Web of Science and PsychINFO were searched from database inception to 2020. Eligible studies included children 0-12 years, assessed effect of experiential learning on outcomes of interest compared to non-experiential learning and were open to any setting. The quality of studies was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool by two independent reviewers and effect size was calculated on each outcome. Nineteen studies were conducted in primary school, six in pre-school and one in an outside-of-school setting and used nine types of experiential learning strategies. Cooking, taste-testing, games, role-playing, and gardening were effective in improving nutrition outcomes in primary school children. Sensory evaluation, games, creative arts, and storybooks were effective for preschool children. Multiple strategies involving parents, and short/intense strategies are useful for intervention success. Experiential learning is a useful strategy to improve children's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards healthy eating. Fewer studies in pre-school and outside of school settings and high risk of bias may limit the generalizability and strength of the findings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Experiential learning activities such as cooking, gardening, taste-testing, games, role-playing, sensory evaluation, creative arts, and storybooks
- Population
- Children aged 0-12 years in primary schools, preschools, and outside-of-school settings
Key finding
Cooking, taste-testing, games, role-playing, and gardening effective for primary school children